Guyana Times Saturday May 18, 2019

NAMILCO reflects on 50year milestone P14 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 3927

THE BEACON OF TRUTH saturday, may 18, 2019

PRICE

Berbice crime wave

Black Bush family shot at, beaten, robbed by bandits Page 10

...Police said no car to respond; no SWAT dispatched

Essequibo Coast mother of 6 stabbed to death by husband

Page 3

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Damage to sugar sector, thousands of employees cannot be overshadowed – Jagdeo P9 …points to decline in other sectors

Row over P9 woman ends with murder conviction

P14 Gaming Authority stifling investor with non-renewal of licence “I have not asked for any salary” – former Business P13 Minister ...says he has 40 years of manufacturing experience Balloons were released into the sky at Main Street, Georgetown to officially open Guyana Carnival 2019 (DPI photo)

Crime spiralling out of control

Public Security Minister a failure – Opposition Leader Pages 7 and 11

…Ramjattan “is at sea” – FITUG …says Police statistics not reflecting reality

UG unions demand resignation of Vice Chancellor Page 7

Mom, son, fiancée charged for circulating fake US$14,650 Page 8

Missing P11 Berbice pensioner’s body found in backdam

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SATURday, may 18, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, May 18 – a night time retraction at 04:30h and a daytime retraction at 14:30h-16:00h Sunday, May 19 – 05:30h-07:00h.

Essequibo Coast mother of 6 stabbed to death by husband

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, May 18 – 16:10h-17:40h and Sunday, May 19 – 16:55h-18:25h.

FERRY SCHEDULE Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY Sunny intervals can be expected throughout the day, followed by partly cloudy skies in the evening, with temperatures ranging between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly between 2.23 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 03:55h and 16:21h reaching maximum heights of 2.78 metres and 2.69 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 09:55h and 22:08h reaching minimum heights of 0.41 metre and 0.55 metre respectively.

wednesday, may 15, 2019

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DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

Dead: Farida Khayum

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ays after a mother of five was shot, burnt and buried in a shallow grave by her husband, another woman was on Thursday evening stabbed to death by her husband during an argument at their Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) home.

Dead is 39-year-old Farida Khayum, a mother of six of Lot 9 Market Street, Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.

Reports are the woman and her husband were involved in a heated argument during which he armed himself with a knife and stabbed her several times about the body.

Realising that his wife had died, he immediately injected a poisonous substance into his body.

This newspaper was told that the woman, who worked at the Hack Rice Mill, was rushed to the Suddie Regional Hospital but she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her husband was hospitalised at the same medical facility under Police guard.

Khayum was the only daughter of Golin Hordowar, who was in a state of shock when this newspaper visited the home on Friday. She, however, related that her now dead daughter was actually the breadwinner in the family since her husband is oftentimes in the interior and hardly ever sends money to take care of the house.

The elderly woman, who has had a stroke, explained that she retired to bed early on Thursday but was

The house in which the woman was stabbed to death at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast

awakened by her daughter screaming “I going to die”.

As such, she left her bedroom and as she ventured into the living area, she saw her daughter lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

She said she immediately raised an alarm and sent her 10-year-old grandson to alert the neighbours, who in turn summoned the police. As the police arrived at the scene, ranks found the suspect in an unconscious state with an empty bottle, which is suspected to have contained a poisonous substance, nearby.

Both the injured woman and the suspect were rushed to the hospital.

Neighbours told Guyana Times that every time the suspect returns from the interior, he would consume alcohol and there were regular fights between him and his wife over his behaviour.

A neighbour said that the man was seen consuming alcohol prior to committing the heinous crime.

Neighbours recalled hearing the argument between the couple earlier that evening.

With the death of the woman, her six children are now left with their sick grandmother.

Regional Chairman Davanand Ramdatt has since committed to assisting the children and the family. Persons who may want to assist the family can contact the grandmother on telephone number (592) 614-6543.

This incident comes on the heels of the death of

Zaila Sugrim, who was murdered by her husband and buried in a shallow grave in his garden at Crane Village, West Coast Demerara. The woman and the suspect had separated for over eight months but their union brought forth five children.

On Saturday last, the woman was attending a birthday party for her youngest child and was later collected by her estranged husband. That was the last time her relatives saw or heard from her.

They attempted to contact her but calls to her mobile device went unanswered. After one day elapsed and there were no signs of the missing woman, the police were contacted and a search was launched.

The police would have searched several properties

of the businessman, Ryan Sugrim, but came up empty-handed. After intense interrogation, the businessman led detectives to an area where he buried the woman.

She had a single gunshot wound to her head and her body was burnt. He has since confessed to shooting the woman, dowsing her with gasoline and setting her on fire. After that, he reportedly dug a hole and buried her body.

Guyana Times understands that the woman was shot and killed in the house while her children were sleeping. It was reported that the couple has been married for the past fifteen years. According to relatives, the woman lived in an abusive home ever since.

(Mohanlall Seulall)

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Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

The voices of youth

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uyana will be observing Youth Week from May 18 – 25 2019, and it is expected that some 5000 young people from across the country would participate in various activities aimed at raising awareness about the issues affecting this segment of the population, and to possible lobby for changes at all levels.

During the launch last Wednesday, Director of Sport (ag), Leslyn Boyce, was quoted as saying that Youth Week activities were geared towards inspiring young people to commit themselves to pursuing the type of technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills training to boost a green economy.

She related that the Week further sought to provide an opportunity for youths across Guyana, regardless of political preference or religion, to be united for a better cause.

According to UN estimates, there are currently 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in the world.

This is the largest youth population ever. But one in 10 of the world’s children live in conflict zones, and 24 million of them are out of school. The UN notes that political instability, labour market challenges, and limited space for political and civic participation have led to increasing isolation of youth in societies.

Here, in Guyana, there are ills affecting young people, and programmes and support services to help address these issues could never be enough. For example, currently, the youth unemployment rate stands at 22 per cent as at the end of 2018. This is quite high, and, if not addressed urgently, could result in serious social and other problems.

The use of illegal drugs and alcohol; crime, suicide, domestic and other forms of violence and so on are having a huge negative impact on communities. Now, more than ever before, there is need for a genuine, collaborative approach, with inclusive planning and coordination to help find practical and lasting solutions to these many ills.

While the Government must play a crucial role in designing the relevant policies and putting in place the necessary legislative framework and other support mechanisms aimed at addressing these issues, this burden must also be shared by other stakeholders -- such as religious groups and the private sector etc. A case in point is that there is hardly any family in Guyana that has never been touched directly or indirectly by suicide. Experts have pointed to the fact that about 90 per cent of people who die by suicide had had some sort of mental illness at the time of their death. Young people are crying out for attention; they need guidance, or simply someone to speak with; many want to find a way out of their misery. However, sometimes accessing that source of help is very difficult.

As alluded to earlier, the role of the private sector should never be underestimated. There is need for funding for many crucial programmes aimed at creating better opportunities for young persons. Such programmes, once effectively implemented, would see our children and young people become well equipped with the necessary skills to develop themselves, and in turn contribute to the overall development of the country.

We had stated before that the private sector is one of the main beneficiaries of an educated and skilled workforce, and it should seek to invest in, and help to build, the pool of talent it wishes to draw from.

Additionally, it is well accepted that progressive countries in the world have strong systems for engaging youth in policy formation, and in creating or altering programmes designed to support youth.

With General Elections just around the corner, it is hoped that young people from across the country would come out of the shadows and actively participate in the debates and discussions about the issues which impact them and the kind of policies they wish to see implemented to address these issues. With opportunities afforded by newer technologies, including access to social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, there are numerous avenues to make these views known.

Our hope is that policy makers and other relevant stakeholders, who have an interest in seeing young people progress and achieve their full potential, would use Youth Week to truly reflect on where our young people are; e.g. what their priority needs are, and come up with meaningful mechanisms to ensure that these concerns and expectations are given serious attention.

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated during a light show to celebrate its 130th anniversary in Paris, France (Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes)

No confidence in Khemraj Ramjattan Dear Editor, The current crisis in the country’s security sector has gripped the nation in a frenzy of fear – not irrational but justifiable fear because from corner to corner of Guyana, practically on a daily basis, there are stories emanating of violent crimes, especially armed robberies and murder in the act of the commission of such crimes. These criminals have to live. They have bodily needs that they have to fulfil, and they have a history of wresting the wherewithal of those needs by any means possible; so the average Guyanese – even the poorest of the poor; ie, the elderly pensioners and single-parent households, have been targeted to provide for those needs. Recently, there has been a proliferation of videos showing robbers – armed with knives and guns, robbing people, schoolchildren not exempted, on a daily basis. Passengers are robbed in buses and even taxis.

The tears of the nation are flowing to rival the floods decimating nations worldwide but these are rivers of blood flowing from eyes that are drenched with the pain from hearts wounded to unbearable proportions by the loss of loved ones, most often in the prime of their lives, brutally taken by the beasts in human form who, while robbing persons of their property, cash and other resources, have no qualms of robbing them of their lives also.

And in equal measure, the curses of the nation against Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan are escalating along with strident calls for his removal as head of the nation’s security services but he stands resolute, arrogant and inflexible in the flotsam of his abundant failures, unmoved by the agony of the victims and their bereft dependents.

A country’s security sector bears the most responsibility for the protection of

citizens from criminal elements, thus anyone tasked with the mandate of managing this vital sector should prove, over time, meritorious in the functionality and efficiency of the various arms of Government comprising his portfolio. However, from the inception of the appointment of Khemraj Ramjattan as Security Minister, there has been one critical incident that compromised the nation’s safety after another.

The calls are escalating, even from his own party’s supporters, that he should resign or be re-assigned because he has clearly failed to deliver on his primary mandate – to protect the nation and formulate policies that would strengthen the various arms under his watch.

He defends the indefensible and excuses himself with one ridiculous postulation after another when the fact is that he is unable to perform to expectations. There may be many flaws in the

system but the fact of the matter is that the buck stops at Ramjattan. His utterings, while acknowledging the facts, disclaims blame on his performance and ascribes same to departmental heads, while not naming names.

Heads should roll after all the ludicrous fiascos and the permeating fear infusing the entire nation because no one is safe from the murderous criminals who are acting with greater impunity as a result of the gross deficiencies of Guyana’s security forces under Ramjattan’s watch. Nowhere is safe anymore, not even in the sanctity of one’s own home.

Without a doubt, he should be the first to go, according to popular opinion. There is absolutely no confidence in him by the public as the head of the security services.

Regards, Alister Charlie Member of Parliament

Legal opinion of GECOM’s legal officer Dear Editor, The existence and the tabling of a legal opinion, done

by GECOM’s legal officer, has raised the ire of some members of the Commission as expressed both at the May 14 Statutory Meeting of the Commission and by Commissioner Trotman in the media.

Any rational reading of the said legal opinion would identify its clear logic and its accordance with the Constitution.

On this basis, one does not need to hold a brief in support of the legal officer herself but to support the Constitution’s letter, spirit and intent on the matters referred to.

The complaints being made by Commissioner Trotman and others fly in the face of the duty of the legal officer to bring, as a matter of urgency, any issue which, arising out of her professional expertise, must be brought to the Executive’s and the Commission’s attention which naturally require the pointing out of any legal risks, exposure or jeopardy which the Commission has found itself in, or may find itself in, on a particular course of action taken or intended.

Whether the legal opinion expressed accords with the particular views of Commissioners, one way or another, should not be of issue. It is for the Commission

to be made aware, with dispatch, of the advice and to make decisions and take actions relating to that advice.

What is important too, is that the legal officer would have, through diligent, dispassionate work, produced an opinion which would aid GECOM in its deliberations and actions towards according with Guyana’s Constitution and supporting laws in respect to elections, the requirements for a valid list of voters at all times and for registration.

To do otherwise, by failing to produce a legal opinion, would have been a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the legal officer of GECOM and a manifest de-

parture from the professional conduct required of any such person holding the position of the legal officer of GECOM. Any such opinion should not have to be requested or mandated but should simply arise out of the fulfilling of the remit of the office.

It should be made clear for the public, that the legal opinion was in the possession of the Executive for over a month before it was made available to all Commissioners on Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

Sincerely, Robeson Benn GECOM Commissioner

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India’s unpredictable elections Trotman’s failed bit of poetry Dear Editor, The final phase (seventh) of voting in India comes to an end this Sunday, May 19. The outcome is unpredictable. This writer travelled to several parts of India to solicit opinions on how people are voting and to gather their views on the outcome.

This writer believes the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win the most seats and form the Government. But it is difficult to determine the proximate number of seats the BJP and the opposition Congress Party will win.

Both major parties are contesting the elections with alliance partners – the BJP and its allies are known as the National Democratic Alliance or NDA while the Congress and its allies are known as the United Progressive Alliance or UPA. The NDA will win a lot more seats than the UPA, perhaps two to one.

However, the NDA (BJP in particular) will lose seats and the Congress and UPA will gain seats.

In travelling around India querying views, people largely parroted the polls’ findings that they read or heard about in the media just before the first phase of voting on April 11.

The polls put the BJP and the NDA well ahead of the Congress and UPA. But polls in India are not known to be reliable.

Almost everyone I interviewed in the urban areas said BJP/NDA will win and they will actually vote for BJP/NDA partner. Middleclass and upper caste voters (Brahmins and Chatris) are voting BJP. However, when one goes to lower-class neighbourhoods and in rural areas, voter preferences change. The lower castes and slum dwellers are divided in their votes. The

BJP gets only a fraction (less than 20 per cent) of their support. Muslims are united against the BJP; only a very small percentage is voting BJP. The preference of female Muslims is not known; the BJP has tried to grant them equality. If female Muslims break for BJP, which is quite unlikely given that they have received instructions from clerics to vote for a candidate that has the best prospect to defeat the BJP candidate, the BJP will sweep.

The lower castes and the Muslims make up almost 70 per cent of the electorate.

No one knows for sure how the lower castes will vote – will they vote en bloc for the SP (Yadavs) and BSP (Dalits) alliance in Uttar Pradesh (UP) State? The two castes have had a history of antagonism and ill feelings towards each other and never quite got along; they were engaged in physical violence against one another. This writer projects BJP will lose a minimum 15 seats in UP but could reduce its losses if Muslims stay away from the polls or if Dalits don’t support Yadav candidates.

There is some element of anti-incumbency in India.

This means BJP will suffer losses not only in UP but in other states as well.

Also, the caste alliance working against the electoral prospects of the BJP. The Dalits and the Yadavs have formed an alliance in UP, India’s largest state. A similar alliance is formed in Bihar and in a few other states. This caste alliance and the understanding with between the Congress and other parties representing lower castes poses a serious challenge to BJP and would cause it to lose several seats and for Congress to pick up seats. But the BJP party is also expected to make gains

in seats in states it never won.

In the 2014 elections, Congress won only 44 seats and the BJP 282 out of 543. The Congress is projected by this writer to win up to 25 more seats, making gains from the BJP in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madya Pradesh, and Chattisgarh. The BJP/ NDA, in addition to losing seats in these states, will lose seats in UP. While losing seats to anti-incumbency and the various alliances allied against it, the BJP will make gains in other states. The party could pick up anywhere between 15 and 20 seats to reduce overall losses. The final projection is BJP is expected to win between 250 and 275 seats and the NDA up to 40 seats for a total of anywhere between 275 and 315. In addition, the BJP will get outside support from the MPs in other states of approximately another 35 seats.

To form a Government, 273 seats are required. So clearly, going by the numbers projected by this writer and the views of pre-election pollsters, the BJP and Modi are projected to retain office. But the number of seats the party or alliance will win is unpredictable. Even if the BJP/NDA comes up short, outside allies will make up the numbers. The UPA and a third front are not likely to have the numbers to form a coalition Government as they did in 2004-2009.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

Dear Editor, Whilst the coalition Government is holding on to power for dear life, the coalition-sponsored ‘Outreach Circus’, a political gimmick meant to revitalise or resurrect the Government, has concluded and has failed miserably to meaningfully resolve any social and economic issues affecting the various regions. People came empty-handed and went home the same way as crimes and cost of living continue to spiral out of control.

Can you imagine that on Saturday last while the Public Security Minister was on television making ridiculous claims of the PPP intending to rig election via Facebook, two gunmen were leisurely robbing a Chinese supermarket just a stone’s throw away from the Albion Police Station?

The men, armed with one AK 47, waltzed into the supermarket, robbed the business, sent the police patrol scampering for cover as they shot ad lib and then strolled away without even a bullet being fired in return by the police. All of this happened around 9 pm! It seems we now need a 7 pm curfew! It is a fact that daring and armed banditry is on the increase and quoting statistics will do nothing to erase that.

On the other hand, the lines at all the money transfer places such as MoneyGram and Western Union continue to be overflowing. I have never witnessed such a spectacle before but this is heralding the return of the dark Burnham era. It is a fact that the poor in Guyana are getting poorer daily and are once again mustering their ingenuity and re-

silience which made them survive during those dark days. However, this time, many have benefitted from the 10-year visitor’s visa, compliments of the PPP/C Government and do not have to take the perilous ‘back track’ route. These are the people who are going and work for a sixmonth period and sending remittances to their families. This has greatly buffered the harsh economic realities which have gripped this country since 2015. These people have sacrificed their family ties just to feed them! What a shame on this Government!

I could recall the late Dr Walter Rodney’s statement that the PNC has the “Midas touch” meaning that everything they touched transformed into excrement. Now the issuance of these visas has fallen by 80 per cent, compliments of the coalition Government which has run the economy to the dust and returned Guyana to mendicancy. The issuance of visitors’ visas, other things being equal, are linked to the economic prosperity of a country.

Once again, the PNCled coalition Government is unleashing a socio-economic onslaught of gigantic proportions. Over 30,000 persons were dismissed while thousands of youths are without jobs and even those employed

by GuySuCo have not received any increase in their wages since 2015. The majority of employees earn a paltry $10,000 (US$50) per week with a minimum wage of $2000 per

day. How is a person supposed to survive on this?

Once again, Guyanese are engaged in doing all sorts of menial things to supplement their incomes.

Fishing is no longer a hobby for many of them and gardening is no longer therapy! Children have once again been forced to resort to the vending of odd items and prostitution is on the rise.

We have heard the coalition Government bragging about ‘skills training’ for sugar workers but there have been no reports of jobs created and so far we have more ‘skilled’ unemployed persons. The four closed estates are still to be privatised whilst they have been completely abandoned. Once again, the nation is losing billions of dollars on the value of canes which were left standing, deteriorating infrastructures and cannibalised factories. Minister Jordan had said he will not “moth balled” them but will make them operational to increase their sale value. What a joke! The loan of $30 billion is yet to be accounted for.

Minister Trotman had said that “This country as the sun rises in the East is not going to be left behind.

Guyana will rise from Berbice”. Well, Minister, since the closing of the estates and your bit of poetry, the only things rising are corruption, cost of living, suicide rates, crime rates and prostitution rates among our females.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

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Foundation

– little “c” versus “Big C” creativity

By S helley H C arson , Ph D

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others are among the most creative people on the planet. A great deal has been written about the idea that motherhood tends to reduce a woman’s chances of making a substantial or important contribution to a creative field, what we call “Big C” creativity.

And that may be the case. The fact is that right up to this day, there is a large and significant disparity between the acknowledged creative accomplishments of men versus women. Example: Of the 835 Nobel Prizes awarded between 1901 and 2018, only 52 have been awarded to women. Most researchers suggest that at least part of the disparity in accomplishments comes from the choice that women must make between creation and procreation.

Unlike men, even in our enlightened age of gender (almost) equality, moms still carry the primary burden of childcare in most households, spending nearly twice as many hours per week on child-related duties as their male counterparts. And many women have found that they either have to put their creative interests on hold during child-rearing years or make the choice to remain childless.

Educator and creativity expert Jane Piirto puts it this way, “The bind of delaying having children, or having children early and not being able to single-mindedly create, seems to be the crux of the problem for many creative women.”

Despite this, many creative women do continue to produce creative work while raising children, even though the nature of their creative work may be less “Big C-ish” than it might have been before children. Writer Erika Hayasaki said in an Atlantic article, “My own creativity these days may come out in a thought tapped and auto corrected on my phone at 2 am, or it could come out

in a method of bathing three small kids without anyone drowning.”

Mothering is intensely creative work

Which brings me to the main point I’d like to make today. Mothering is intensely creative work, even if it doesn’t register on the “Big C” creative scale. Each day mothers complete hundreds of creative acts. Just as writer Erika Hayasaki finds a creative way to safely bathe three small kids, mothers everywhere are finding creative ways to get daily tasks accomplished: There is no guidebook to get a toddler going through the terrible two’s to stop throwing his food. A creative mother makes

up a game and suddenly the food is a train and the toddler’s mouth is a tunnel. Mothers find creative ways to get their five-year-olds to brush their teeth and pick up their toys. Mothers find creative ways to get three children dressed and out the door in time to catch the school bus. How do you comfort a 10-year-old who didn’t make the travel soccer team? Mothers engage almost daily in these creative improvisational therapy sessions.

Another aspect of mothering that is highly creative involves food and what has traditionally been referred to as “feeding the family”, a task that, despite modern gender roles, still generally falls to the mom.

Anthropologists Maryann McCabe and Timothy Malefyt note that this task has changed considerably from what it used to be, say, in the 1950s. However, it is no less creative today. While feeding the family may not involve as much “home cooking” these days, it nonetheless requires considerable creativity to find ways to combine children’s taste preferences, hectic family schedules, budgetary concerns, and available food items in a manner that provides some sort of nutritional value several times a day to one’s offspring.

Much of the creative work that mothers complete may be called acts of everyday creativity, or “little c” creativity. These acts may not be recognised with a Pulitzer, Oscar, or Fields Medal, but as developmental psychologist David Feldman says, these “little c” creative acts are equally as important as “Big C” creativity for the “preservation, enrichment, and continuity of culture”.

Mothers, through their daily creative work, are preserving and enriching society.

To mothers everywhere, thank you for your creativity. (psychologytoday)

F

eel in your body the pre s s u re, stretching, and bending that architects must contend with.

A column resists compression. Balance a pile of books on your head to feel compression. A cantilever balances weight on one side of a beam with weight on the other side. The beam must be strong enough to resist bending or it will break. To feel this bending force, try to hold the same pile of books at arm’s length.

An arch uses compression to balance its own weight and the weight piled on top of it. Build an arch with two people leaning against each other’s hands.

How far apart can you and your partner stand before your arch begins to collapse? Where in your body do you feel the most pressure?

A dome works like many arches arranged in a circle.

Start to make a dome by having two people make an arch, leaning their hands against a large rubber ball.

Keep adding pairs until there is no more room. What would happen if someone took the ball away?

A catenary, often seen in suspension bridges, is almost the opposite of an arch. Only steel cables are strong enough to resist this kind of tension. You can feel the tension of a catenary bridge and the compression on the piers that hold it by having two people pick up a third by the wrists and ankles. Is there more tension when the “piers” stand closer together or further apart? Is there ever a happy medium? Source: Exploring Architecture Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1987 (startwithabook.org)

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Crime spiralling out of control

Public Security Minister a failure – Opposition Leader …as crime continues to ravage Guyana

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rime continues to ravage the country and Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan is more focused on building his portfolio for the prime ministerial candidacy for the Alliance for Change (AFC) rather than addressing the threats to citizens’ security across Guyana.

This is according to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who on Thursday said that Ramjattan had failed at executing his du-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

ties over the past four years in office and that his failures are having serious, negative effects on the Guyanese populace.

According to the Opposition Leader, since assumption to office, Minister Ramjattan is yet to do an efficient and effective job, adding that the Minister’s trajectory to date is one that is filled with fiascos.

“This Minister has been a failure, 17 persons died under his watch, the worst prison fire ever in our histo-

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

UG unions demand resignation of Vice Chancellor

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niversity of Guyana Workers Unions are calling for the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith and ProChancellor, Joe Singh to resign, contending that their performances over the past few years have been dismal.

The Vice Chancellor’s contract will come to an end on June 13, 2019.

At a meeting convened by the University Council, headed by the ProChancellor on April 15, a decision was taken to have the Vice Chancellor proceed on the routine end of contract leave.

This decision was made in view of the University’s current financial situation, the absence of any circumstance that requires the Vice Chancellor’s presence and it also respected long-standing procedures of the University with regard to no payment in lieu of leave for all staff.

However, the ProChancellor has reportedly given directives for the Council to reverse its decision so that the Vice Chancellor could be paid in lieu of leave.

According to Presidents of the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA), Bruce Haynes and Dr Jewel Thomas, Singh has guided the Council in a direction that is not in the interests of Guyana’s sole national University.

The Unions noted that to reverse the decision would place the University, which is already undergoing austerity, in even graver financial and legal jeopardy.

According to Thomas, the budget of the University is presently stretched thin.

“It is very clear, that the only way in which payment is entertained in the University’s regulations for staff which stipulates under what circumstances you are permitted to make the request and the

Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith

fact that you ask does not mean that you will get it.

And we only pay in lieu of leave outside of those determined circumstances when the University says that it requires you to remain at work. There was no such compelling reasons on the part of the University advanced either within the Vice Chancellor’s letter or by the Pro-Chancellor in any kind of supporting documentation. All that was said in the circumstances was that this is the VC’s letter and the Pro-Chancellor said I support it…None of the reasons advanced in the letter had to do with the University of Guyana, they were entirely to do with the needs of the VC,” Dr Thomas argued.

Financial constraints

The University is undergoing financial constraints which will potentially affect the University’s teaching and learning, Thomas related.

Being aware of this, the Union Head noted her disappointment with the VC’s request and the support being given to the said request by the Pro-Chancellor.

“We ended up having to do this round robin thing under very constraint circumstances, as a result of the round robin, the ProChancellor declared that seven was a majority of 16 and on that basis, a communication was written to the

Vice Chancellor which he has taken to mean that he stays in office. At this point in time, we are not sure what the situation is with regard to the pay in lieu of leave” Thomas revealed.

Thomas went on to voice the Unions’ frustrations with this new development at the hands of the VC since he is the highest paid principal the University has ever seen.

Thomas claimed that VC Griffith, upon taking up the post, has since demanded a new vehicle, an increase of allowance which is equivalent to a ministerial level, a credit card, an expense of the University and bonuses.

The Union President noted that the University of Guyana cannot afford the Vice Chancellor.

The UGSSA President observed that the situation cannot and should not be allowed to continue.

According to the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU), under the leadership of the VC and ProChancellor, the University of Guyana has deteriorated.

“You have hundreds of students and staff on campus and all of them using the same facilitates and,

therefore, you would understand when you go into the washroom and you see human beings like yourself doing the same things that you don’t want to do and it’s not going to look good, so since it would have escalated into an occupational health crisis which is not fair to allow people who would have left their homes and that particular aspect of their lives is well controlled to come to a place where they believe that the condition would have been the same or even better but it’s not,” Bruce Haynes remarked.

As such, the Unions are calling on all staff and students to adopt a stance of non-cooperation with any policy directive, request or instruction emanating from the Vice Chancellor since they consider the decision of the Council meeting of April 15 to be both proper and justified.

ry the tragedy in the prison under his watch. We had 23 years in Office, none of that happened. We had a second fire in which the entire prison burnt down, we have to spend billions of dollars repairing, building a new prison now,” the Opposition Leader said.

According to Jagdeo, crime is ravaging the country and even the prisoners at certain jails are not being taken care of or properly monitored.

This, he said, should be a top priority for the subject Minister, and had Ramjattan done his job effectively over the past four years, a lot of trouble with the prisons could have been avoided.

“We have had, I believe, more escape from prisoners

in his tenure in the last four years than the entire independent history of Guyana.

This is his track record.

Every single day gun crimes, we started off with the petty crimes now the gun crimes have picked up,” he noted.

Between July 9 and July 10, 2017, a ravaging fire at the Camp Street Prison completely flattened the structure, causing several high-profile criminals to escape.

One year prior to this unfortunate incident, in March of 2016, 17 prisoners died as a result of unrest that started in the same location.

Thereafter, there have been constant breakouts from the Lusignan Prison, where in one instance alone 13 inmates had escaped.

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Mom, son, fiancée charged for circulating fake US$14,650

Remanded: Yelitza Lopez

Simone Thompson

Guyanese woman along with her son and his Venezuelan fiancée were hauled before the court on Friday, to answer a string of charges involving the counterfeiting of large sums of United States (US) dollars.

Charged were 40-yearold Simone Thompson; her son Dexter Thompson, 26; and his 26-year-old fiancée, Yelitza Lopez. The trio stood before Georgetown

Magistrate Leron Daly to answer to separate charges at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Simone Thompson denied the five charges, which detailed that between March 25, 2019 and April 28, 2019 at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, she uttered to Saheed Harrinarine, Ravindra Rajnauth, Ravindra Persaud, Monila Atkins and Mondell Smith

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US$3850 knowing the money was forged.

Meanwhile, the younger Thompson also denied that between January 23, 2019, and May 14, 2019, at Georgetown, he uttered to Quills Optical and Omel Del Toro a total sum of US$4300, knowing same to be forged.

Lopez was slapped with three charges, with the first alleging that on May 15, 2019 without lawful authorisation or excuse, she had in her possession a total of 44 forged US$50 bills.

The other charges detailed that between January 23, 2019, and May 15, 2019, at Georgetown she uttered to Quills Optical and Rooklin Del Toro a total of US$4300 knowing same to be forged.

The defendant, through an interpreter denied the charges.

Police Prosecutor Sanj Singh did no object to bail for the Thompsons but requested that the court set out conditions if it is granted. However, the prosecutor objected to bail

Paralysis…

O Granted bail: Dexter Thompson

for Lopez on the grounds that she is not a Guyanese and poses a flight risk.

Magistrate Daly released the Thompsons on $350,000 bail, while Lopez was remanded to prison. As a condition for bail the mother and son have to report to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarter once per week until the completion of the case.

The case will continue on June 14.

“Cricket bat” murder accused found guilty of manslaughter

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fter almost two hours of deliberation, a 12-member High Court jury in a 10-2 verdict on Friday found 22-year-old Johnathan Budhan guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter committed against 40-year-old Deonarine Manbodh in October of 2016.

The accused upon hearing the delivered verdict broke down in tears as he now awaits his sentencing, which was deferred to June 7, 2019, to facilitate the preparation of a probation report that was requested by Defence Counsel Nigel Hughes.

The trial commenced before Justice Navindra Singh, during which the State’s case was led

by Tuanna Hardy in association with Teriq Mohammed Convicted of manslaughter: Johnathan Budhan and Abigail Gibbs.

Budhan, upon commencement of trial, entered a not guilty plea to a murder charge.

During the trial, it was revealed that the accused, formerly of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, armed with a bat, dealt Manbodh a lash to the head after he was embarrassed and assaulted by the now dead man. The accused retaliated due to the deceased actions, demonstrating his disapproval of the relationship between his niece and the now dead man.

Reports indicate that on October 20, 2016, Manbodh was beaten to his head with a bat by the accused. Manbodh was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was admitted and died five days later.

The accused, who evaded Police apprehension after committing the act, later turned himself in at the Leonora Police Station and was charged for the offence.

…on oil il was struck just before the PNC/AFC combine slid into office. Your Eyewitness isn’t going to expand on whether that was coincidental or not, save to confess he doesn’t believe in coincidences with billions at stake! When the PNC/AFC combine gave itself a report card for its 4-year term – with an eye on the looming elections – the Govt glibly promised the days of wine and honey were nigh upon us under its watch.

But the question is: Are we getting our fair share of wine and honey? Oil mightn’t “spoil”, as Eric Williams reminded Burnham, but it DOES run out, as Eric’s successors are finding out right now to their chagrin!!

Well, Granger handed Raphael Trotman -- of Nassau fame -- the job of negotiating what share of the oil and profits we were going to get from the foreign oil companies, and Trotman went without anyone with an oil background to Texas!!

It wasn’t that Trotman didn’t know he needed oil experts’ advice; he just didn’t want anyone to spoil his runnings!!

So we ended up with 2 per cent royalties when the African country Uganda, which he’d visited to be “mentored” about oil, had gotten 15 per cent!! Then he “negotiated” a signing bonus of US$18 million when Brazil received US$700 million for a similar find!!

But the rape didn’t stop there. The oil companies could recover up to 75 per cent of their costs before profits would be declared, leaving the remaining 25 per cent to be split half-and-half.

But not really. In Uganda, the oil companies would have to pay the 30 per cent corporate taxes from their profits – as all companies are supposed to do. But not with Guyana!! Here, Trotman arranged FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY THE OIL COMPANIES’ TAXES!! Can you believe this??

The oil companies get 75 per cent of profits and WE pay their taxes from our measly 25 per cent!! Well, for deals like these, the President of Equatorial Guinea had US$700 million deposited into his bank accounts in the Riggs Bank in Washington DC!!

But all of that happened back in 2016. What have the PNC done since? Have they at least locked the valves, since the oil hasn’t actually flowed out?? Well, they did transfer Trotman out of Oil, but placed it into the hands of a Grangerfriendly ENVIRONMENT expert!!

So how could anyone be surprised we still haven’t locked down arrangements to find out how to measure how much oil the oil companies would be “lifting”?? Or whether an oil refinery would be beneficial to us or not? Or whether we would get any of the gas to use?

But don’t blame the oil companies; their mission is to maximise profits for their shareholders.

While PNC officials maximise it for THEMSELVES!! …on lean governance When the PNC/AFC sidled into Government, one of their major promises was “lean and clean” governance.

Well, with even their well-wishers bemoaning the corruption that has enveloped their administration, “clean gone fuh channa”!! So how about “lean”?? Well, they quickly substituted “mean”, and fired hundreds of PPP appointees in the Public Service and in other support services in Government.

Now, if they’d just done that, you’d think they were just cleaning up the alleged PPP bloating. But instead, in every instance of a firing, they hired “one of their own” and then some!! The policy was later to be enunciated by Volda Lawrence, Chair of the PNC: Only friends and members of the PNC “will get wuk”! If you doubt your Eyewitness, just take a gander at the “contract” workers in the Government Ministries! In 2017, the Ministry of the Presidency alone expended over $969 million on payment for 309 contract workers!

And if the Director of the Public Service College got $1.9 million monthly, imagine what his new boss Roopnaraine will get!! Or son-in-law Gaskin!! …on abuse victims The major reasons why the epidemic of intimate partner abuse keeps growing is the fear of the “junior” partner, as to “where they’ll go” and then deny the abuse.

Like with the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the AG!!

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

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Row over woman ends Damage to sugar sector, thousands of employees cannot be overshadowed – Jagdeo with murder conviction

…points to decline in other sectors

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

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lthough the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Administration continues to spout declarations of developments that it has been responsible for since it took office some four years ago, the damage it has done to the sugar industry and thousands of sugar workers cannot be overshadowed.

This is according to Opposition Leader Bharat Jagdeo, who on Thursday said over 7000 sugar workers have been left without an income since they lost their jobs at the hands of this Government.

“Sugar workers have lost 7000 jobs and people surrounding the sugar industry another 4000 to 5000 jobs. Are the sugar workers better off today? Sugar workers have not received

any increase; the remaining workers have not received a single salary increase for all four years; zero per cent, the first time in our history, even under Burnham,” he said.

Jagdeo posited that the APNU/AFC coalition is also responsible for scrapping the Annual Production Incentive (API) programme that rewarded the efforts of sugar workers who met targets and worked above and beyond their call of duty just so they could have more monies to support their families.

Other sectors

But it is not just the sugar workers who suffered the brunt of actions by this Government, Jagdeo said, adding that even the rice farmers are left nursing wounds and trying to keep their heads above water as they struggle to make a living in the rice industry.

“The Government said it opened new markets for rice farmers but have cut $1 billion from drainage and irrigation, increased land charges for rice farmers to significant sums, sometimes by 300 per cent, 400 per cent, land and water rates, they have removed the taxes, put taxes on fertilisers and pesticides and put taxes on the machinery, so that’s it. Are the farmers better off today? The answer is no.”

He also pointed out that

President David Granger

in the mining industry, progress for the small miners has been halted, and in many cases non-existent.

The Opposition Leader explained that under the People’s Progressive Party Administration, there was a two per cent final tax in place that all small miners had to pay but now the current Administration is bleeding them.

“This Government removed it and increased it to a 28 per cent tax and it is no longer final tax. After the public outcry and we said we will reverse it they brought it down back but moved it on a sliding scale from a two to 3.5 per cent, we made it clear we would go back to two per cent. So the miners have seen a deterioration.”

The Opposition Leader lamented that the laws that are now in place at the be-

hest of the APNU/AFC Administration that targets small miners are making it more difficult for them to succeed in that field. They will encounter difficulties in continuing a job in the mining sector.

“They have passed legislations to say that if the small miners don’t have records when the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) approaches them, they can go to jail now. How many small miners have records in the hinterland of their purchases? Who will give them a receipt if they buy two drums of fuel?”

Jagdeo also noted that the sad state of hinterland roads and the lack of Government spending to repair them is presently a hindrance to miners with regard to transporting their equipment into those communities.

He added that many policies adopted and implemented by the coalition Government have led to the decline in the environment of miners in Guyana and that this trend which commenced some four years ago will be progressively worse in relation to the country’s agricultural resources and development.

Dead: Michael Hamilton

Convicted: Junior Anthony Henry

wenty-seven-year-old Junior Anthony Henry also called “Oswald” was convicted of murder on Friday by a 12-member mixed jury in the courtroom of Justice James Bovell-Drakes at the Demerara High Court.

The unanimous guilty verdict was delivered after some two hours of deliberation.

However, Henry’s sentencing was deferred to May 31, 2019, to facilitate the preparation and presentation of a probation report, which was requested by Defence Attorney Lyndon Amsterdam.

The State’s case was presented by Prosecutors Tiffani Lyken and Sarah Martin.

The murder trial commenced before Justice Drakes early in April where the accused pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. The charge detailed that on October 7, 2013,

at Sparendaam Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara, he murdered 22-year-old Michael Hamilton of Lot 128 Sparendaam Housing Scheme, ECD. According to reports, at about 17:30h on October 7, 2013, the now dead man was shot and killed by Henry. The killing was the result of an ongoing feud regarding a female, who is said to be the accused’s girlfriend. Police investigations revealed that Hamilton’s sister witnessed her brother being shot in the chest by Henry, who was being chased by the now dead man. After committing the act, Henry made good his escape but was later apprehended by the police.

Hamilton was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

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Berbice crime wave

Black Bush family shot at, beaten, robbed by bandits ...Police said no car to respond; no SWAT dispatched

Harmond Roopnarine

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andits have struck again in Berbice, this time by attacking two families at Black Bush Polder and carting cash and jewellery while family members were told that the police there had no vehicle to respond immediately.

Reports are the gunmen, all masked, initially tried to break into the home of a farmer but shot at him after their attempt failed. This newspa-

Devi Roopnarine threw her earrings to the bandits

Lennox Ramcharran was bound and beaten

per was told that the latest attack was at Johanna North at about 01:20h on Friday.

Harmond Roopnarine, 40, a farmer and his wife and two children, aged 17 and 16, were at home.

The farmer said he heard someone trying to break into his home and stood up, waiting with a cutlass in his hand as they repeatedly hit the window. He said one of the

gunmen saw him but could not get into the building.

He explained that he stood at the window and saw the bandits using a piece of wood to break open the window to enter the house.

As one was making his way in from the broken window, the family began to scream while Roopnarine stood next to the window armed with a cutlass. The bandits ordered

him to put down the cutlass but he did not comply. This led to them firing shots at the farmer and demanding, while still outside, that Roopnarine hand over his gold and money.

He said another shot was fired in the direction of his wife and children, who were in the bedroom.

The two bandits, the farmer said, were outside of his home for about ten minutes during which time several calls were made to the Mibicuri Police Station but the family was told that the police are incapable of responding because of the lack of a vehicle.

Meanwhile, his wife, Devi, told this newspaper that she went on her knees and begged the bandits not to hurt her family.

“I tell them we ain’t get

The window which was broken

Whim police come,” the farmer told Guyana Times.

Roopnarine expressed appreciation at being able to get on to the police station when he called but he is disappointed that they could not respond in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, at Johanna

He said his son immediately called the police, informing them that they were under attack by bandits.

All three of the bandits had guns, the man recalled.

He said that the bandits ransacked the house after his wife gave them money and

Lennox Ramcharran’s home where the bandits beat his family

nothing. Don’t kill me husband….they tell me husband to put down the cutlass and lie down. But he didn’t putting down the cutlass and I take off my earring and I throw it and give them and then they gone,” the traumatised woman said.

It was not until daylight that the police arrived at the scene.

“If they had come when we call them we could have catch somebody but is till this morning [Thursday] the

South, Lennox Ramcharran, 51, a rice farmer, was beaten after gunmen went into his home at about 20:30h on Thursday.

Ramcharran said he left his two teenage children inside after he heard dogs barking and went outside to investigate when he was confronted by the bandits.

“One of them run out and lash me down and tie up me hand. Me son come outside and he call for me but I can’t get to answer he so he run back upstairs.”

jewellery. She and her two children were also beaten.

The men left with $300,000 and an undisclosed amount of jewellery. As a means of escaping without any incidents, the men grabbed the man’s 16-year-old daughter but released her after they realised that they were not being followed.

Ramcharran said shortly after the incident, two police officers arrived on motorbikes. An investigation has been launched. (Andrew Carmichael)

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Crime spiralling out of control

Public Security Minister “is at sea” – FITUG …says Police statistics not reflecting reality

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he Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) on Friday called out the Public Security Ministry on its sloth in addressing the alarming crime statics in Guyana and also slammed the subject Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, for the manner in which the situation is being handled.

According to the union, there has been a rising “spate of criminality” across communities, adding that media reports of statistics from the Guyana Police Force which suggest crime is on the decline does not substantiate the reality on the ground.

“Whether all crimes are actually reported is something that should be verified. If it is the case that our people have decided not to report such acts, it says a lot in our view,

about the confidence in those charged with maintenance of public order and security,” FITUG stated.

The union added that throughout Guyana, there have been reports of citizens being victims of varying criminal offences, instilling fear among others.

FITUG contended that this mindset is not one which people should ever have to contend with.

FITUG noted that it has seen, in practically all corners of the country, reports about people being the victims of crime.

“Some incidents, we note too, have resulted in the untimely death of victims. This is a situation we can neither condone nor be happy about. At this time, we will recognise that our people are genuinely afraid about whether they will be the next victim.”

The Public Security

Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, was under scrutiny for the way this matter has been addressed. While it is a serious situation, the union expressed that this is yet to be realised and, therefore, called for the issue to be addressed immediately and treated with grave importance.

“The Federation has also seen pronouncements from the Minister of Public Security on the situation.

From the Minister’s utterances, we cannot help but conclude that he is at sea when it comes to grasping with the gravamen of the situation at hand. It appears that the Minister may need assistance from his colleagues who have experience in the security sector,” the union said.

The union called for a concerted plan to address the situation at hand and bring reprieve to

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

Guyanese, who must contend with various criminal activities.

“The need for a safe and secure society cannot be underscored. The need for our people to have peace of mind is important on so many fronts.”

Ramjattan was recently quoted as saying that although crimes are oc-

Missing Berbice pensioner’s body found in backdam

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he body of a 69-yearold missing resident of Black Bush Polder was found on Friday morning after he disappeared from his home over one week ago.

Dead is Chandramohan Ishmael of Lot 4 Yakarasi South, Black Bush Polder, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

According to the man’s daughter, Yasoda Harrinarin, he lived alone and so no one was aware that he was missing until

Dead: Chandramohan Ishmael

some days after. The daughter said that a report was made to the police.

“We file a report and then Saturday we went back to the police station. From then, the search continue and continue to see if we could find he,” she stated.

However, on Thursday, they received a call that a body matching the description of Ishmael was discovered at a backdam over 20 miles away.

“A man operating a dragline in the backdam call and

said he see the body…we went to the scene with other relatives and the police and we find him,” the grieving daughter said.

Harrinarin stated that her father was a pensioner and would usually plant a small garden in his backyard. It is unusual for him to leave the house and wander off so far from home.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death as investigations continue.

curring, there must be an appreciation of the fact that Guyanese live in a geopolitical space where interpersonal violence is the highest in the world.

However, this analysis of the escalating crime situation in Guyana did

not go down well with Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Harry Gill; a Member of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on the Security Sector, who in no uncertain terms called for the Minister to either be reassigned or fired as Public Security Minister.

He added that the ease with which criminals are going about their business, “brutalising families in their homes, stripping them of their valuables, their dignity and often, their very lives, is reminiscent of the infamous Burnham era of the notorious kick down the door bandits.

And Minister Khemraj Ramjattan seems clueless and in denial,” he added.

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“I have not asked for any salary” – former Business Minister

...says he has 40 years of manufacturing experience

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ormer Government Minister, Dominic Gaskin, who was recently appointed as Director of Manufacturing and Marketing in the Business Ministry, has declared that neither did he request to function in that new post nor did he have any discussions to date as to what his new salary and benefits would be.

He made this disclosure at a press briefing on Friday where he told reporters that while his resignation was “unconditional”, he did indicate his willingness to serve the Government in any capacity that would further the objectives of the Administration in areas for which he had been responsible for.

“Now the position of Director of Manufacturing and Marketing is certainly an area where there is a lot of work that has to be done.

I can tell you that because of my involvement over the last four years. I personally believe that a position dedicated to that responsibility, to that particular area, is certainly one that is not a frivolous appointment, and it certainly has a focus and it is certainly in an area where attention is badly needed. I have spent almost 40 years in manufacturing, I understand a thing or two about manufacturing, I understand the challenges faced by manufacturers in Guyana, I understand those

Former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin

challenges very well.”

According to the former Business Minister, he is well aware of what needs to be done to address the challenges in the country’s manufacturing sector and to also make it more competitive.

“It is not a long-term appointment so it is not something that I am making a career out of,” Gaskin told the press.

In light of recent criticisms that he is being paid a mega salary as the Director of Manufacturing and Marketing, he claimed that he commenced the job without knowing if and what he would be given as a salary.

“In terms of salary and

benefits, I have no idea, we have not even had that discussion. As I said before, my resignation was unconditional, and I have indicated my willingness to serve in any capacity in which I could be useful. I have not asked for any salary, we have not had that discussion yet…I don’t think as a former Minister, accepting an appointment with less responsibilities, that the compensation would or should be the same.”

He added that his appointment within the Business Ministry will not affect the current Minister’s roles and responsibilities in any form or manner as they both have different functions in their ca-

pacities.

On Tuesday, Government announced that it was rehiring former Ministers Dominic Gaskin and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.

Guyana Times understands that both Gaskin and Roopnaraine continue to receive super salaries.

Gaskin, Dr Roopnaraine, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge and former Minister Joseph Harmon, all dual citizens, resigned as Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) effective April 25.

On April 30, Harmon, a United States citizen, was appointed Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency.

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NAMILCO reflects on 50-year milestone

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he National Milling Company of Guyana (NAMILCO) on Thursday evening celebrated 50 years since its establishment, providing quality flour and other variants to the Caribbean market, while renewing its commitment to continue operations in Guyana.

The event was hosted at the Marriott Hotel as a way of thanking partners and customers for their continued support. Established on May 17, 1969, by its parent company, Seaboard, the milling company has created products to meet expectations and has managed to maintain ISO 9001 certification.

Chief Executive Officer, Roopnarine Bert Sukhai gave a history of their progress which resulted in a wide variety of new products.

From just wheat flour, the company has grown to produce other flour-based items that are easy to prepare. He

NAMILCO CEO Roopnarine Bert Sukhai and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Terry Steers-Gonzalez, during the celebratory event

posited that they are positively looking forward to the prospects of the future.

“Our department will continue to recommend new products and we will strive

to ensure that all lovers of flour products are extremely satisfied with what we will be offering…We have prepared and will continue to prepare to be around for

another 50 years,” the CEO said.

He added, “Over the years, we moved from making two types of flour to many different types. We ca-

tered for the large companies such as Banks (DIH) for biscuits and bread, Beharry for chowmein, the many large and small bakeries for pastries and other products; the home bakers by providing a variety of flour such as multi-grain, whole-wheat, vanilla flavoured cake flour, pholourie mix, roti mix and the list goes on”.

His remarks were followed by Vice President of Seaboard, Ralph Moss, who stated that this successful tenure will continue in Guyana with affordable services to all Guyanese.

“We have made additional investments, other than international milling here in Guyana and we will continue to seek new investments.

With our expertise, we can bring needed skills, needed technology, and needed resources to your country.”

Meanwhile, Business Minister, Haimraj Rajkumar gave credit for these successes to the strong collab-

oration between the public and private sectors.

“Companies such as NAMILCO continue to make valuable contributions outside of their private business. Fifty years is certainly a long time to be involved in doing business in or country. Given the many uncertainties and uncontrollable situations that arises, it is the ultimate test of longevity when a company can be in operation for such a long time and still manage to hold its own in becoming a mainstay in the business community,” the Minister expressed.

Presently, the company also supplies establishments such as KFC and the Suriname and Guyana franchise of Pizza Hut. It was also mentioned that their production is critical to ensuring that farmers are provided with bran. Presently, the production rate is 240 metric tonnes daily.

Gaming Authority stifling investor with non-renewal of licence – businessman

General Manager of the Guiana Holding Inc, Super Bet, Shrikant Kisoensingh

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fter five years of operating in Guyana with a valid licence, a trending gambling attractions across the country, Super Bet, has been denied renewal of licences from the Gaming Authority, which has also threatened to shut down its operations locally.

A frustrated General

Manager of the Guiana Holding Inc, Super Bet, Shrikant Kisoensingh on Friday engaged the media at his lawyer, Anil Nandlall’s office, on South Road, Georgetown, where he explained that he invested millions into the business and feels he is being targeted and discriminated against, especially since new betting games are being granted their licences months after coming to Guyana.

“This is really stressful on us but we are still going strong because we are operating since 2012 till now and all of my staff they are scared to come to the office cause every time I’m getting phone calls asking do I have to work tomorrow and I say yes,” he protested.

There are presently over 175 Super Bet locations across Guyana which bring in income for over 500 persons.

Meanwhile, Nandlall explained that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) as well as the Gaming

Authority has also issued the renewal of licences for the business in the past.

However this time around, the business owners are being told they require a certificate of “Good Standing” before they are issued the renewal.

“My client has been operating in Guyana since 2012. They have always been issued with the relevant licences by the Guyana Revenue Authority and they have paid all taxes that have been levied against their operations,” the lawyer explained.

Gaming Authority’s demands

In 2017, the Gaming Authority attempted to exercise control over the operations at Super Bet, the lawyer reminded. The Authority had accused the business of money laundering and the matter was taken to the courts.

According to Nandlall, the matter was heard and they were able to convince the court that the Gaming Authority had no authority over his client’s operations, as it fell under the purview of the Guyana Revenue Authority.

However, following the court’s ruling, the laws were amended to allow the Gaming Authority to exercise supervisory control over the operations of the business.

After those proceedings, the General Manager went to have his business licence renewed at the end of 2017 when he was told by the GRA that they can no longer issue licences to the business until it acquires a certificate of “good standing” from the Guyana Gaming Authority.

Not knowing what the certificate was, Nandlall said his client went over to the Gaming Authority to request the document, when it was explained to him that

The last licence issued by the GRA to Super Bet

there are certain requirements that must be met before the certificate is issued.

After satisfying all the requirements, Nandlall said his client and he were summoned to a meeting by the Gaming Authority when they were told of yet another requirement.

“When we satisfied those requirements they invited us to a meeting and they told us that we must do what they call an AML-CFT audit before they issue us with the certificate of good standing. We don’t know what an AML-CFT audit is and that was explained very clearly to the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the Gaming Authority, Mr (Lloyd) Moore. This request only came two weeks ago. All the time we were working on trying to satisfy all the different requirements that they had made to us in relation to getting this certificate,” Nandlall explained.

The lawyer argued on Friday that he has never heard of such a thing and has no idea what it is.

Furthermore, he noted that

he has never come across such a thing in Guyana’s laws which leaves him to believe that such discriminatory action is unconstitutional.

He said he would have enquired from the CEO as to where the services of someone qualified can be retained to undertake the audit and was told the agency would have to seek international expertise.

In the meantime, the business has been trying to acquire the necessary manpower to conduct the audit.

Another visit has since been paid to the Gaming Authority, the lawyer posited, where he explained to the CEO that the agency is working tirelessly to satisfy the requirements of the Gaming Authority since without the certificate of good standing, the GRA will not issue the renewal of the business licences.

Only on Friday, the lawyer said he made contact with the GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia, who told him he has no issue with Super Bet’s operations

since it is up to date with its taxes, among other requirements. Moreover, Statia told the company’s lawyer that he would be happy to grant the business licences as long as it produces the certificate of good standing.

Despite its efforts, Nandlall told the media that the business received a letter on Thursday from the Gaming Authority which threatened not to issue the certificate of good standing over the mere fact that they have been operating without a licence.

The lawyer added that the company has no problem with fair competition with other games on the market, but is against Government or Government agencies abusing its power to stifle businesses and is ready to fight the matter in court.

The issue is also being investigated by the Police, who had already questioned the General Manager of Super Bet Guyana.

Guyana Times was unable to get a comment from the Gaming Authority on the issue.

news

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saturday, may 18, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Ramsammy’s Ruminations Protecting Guyana’s sovereignty my main Missed opportunity to stand united in diversity

H

ow do you commission a monument in memory and in tribute of a group of people, but make no effort to ensure they are an important part of the commissioning? The most noteworthy part of the commissioning of the Indian Arrival Monument was the almost total absence of IndoGuyanese. Most of the people present at the ceremony were not Indo-Guyanese. The fact that those people present were dressed in traditional Indian wear cannot hide the reality that the descendants of those Indians who arrived more than 181 years ago were excluded.

The country’s largest ethnic group is IndoGuyanese; Region 6 is overwhelmingly IndoGuyanese; and Palmyra, the village where the monument is located, is almost Dr Leslie Ramsammy exclusively Indo-Guyanese.

It was a strange sight, therefore, to see the commissioning ceremony for the Indian Arrival Monument with the visible absence of Indo-Guyanese and the visible presence of Afro-Guyanese dressed in Indian clothing. This commissioning ceremony should have been an occasion for Guyana to display its ethnic and cultural diversity.

The Government squandered a great opportunity for national cohesion.

On May 5, Arrivals Day in Guyana, the David Granger-led APNU/AFC Administration commissioned the Indian Arrival Monument at Palmyra in Berbice, exactly three years after it was scheduled to be commissioned. But better late than never, it was a proud day for all Guyanese, particularly for IndoGuyanese. The monument is Guyana’s recognition that the people who first arrived on May 5, 1838 became productive and valuable citizens of Guyana. Their descendants have made remarkable progress and have contributed significantly to the upward mobility of Guyana, even if Guyana is still a poor country.

President Granger rightfully and generously acknowledged this truth, and even named some of the successful IndoGuyanese. But many noteworthy names of Indo-Guyanese were not included in President Granger’s list. While I want to believe no one was deliberately excluded because of political considerations, it cannot escape anyone that President Granger failed to acknowledge the important contributions of people like Cheddi Jagan, Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar, all former Presidents. There are other notable Indo-Guyanese with distinguished careers who were not mentioned. I believe this is yet another opportunity for cohesion squandered.

The May 5th date for the commissioning was the right date, even if it was several years late. The actual statues were in storage in Guyana for more than four years. It is therefore gratifying, even if it is three years too late, that the Indian Arrival Monument is a reality. APNU/AFC would have insulted people if it had carried through with the original date it proposed - April 27. It is said that the Indian High Commission had expressed disappointment with the proposed April 27 date, given that Indian Arrival Day was just eight days away. Good sense prevailed because, had the Government persisted with the April 27th date, it would have been another misstep and insult.

Still, it is a mystery why, with May 5 a mere eight days away, the Government would have even contemplated April 27th. The mere contemplation demonstrates yet another example of a deliberate insult to the Indo-Guyanese population.

Sadly, the Indian Arrival Monument was commissioned with the wretched backdrop of the descendants of those who began their arrival on May 5, 1838 either being excluded or staying away in protest of the unfair and discriminatory treatment meted out by their government. The vast majority of Indo-Guyanese believe they are being treated as secondclass citizens. With this backdrop, one would have expected the Government to ensure inclusivity and a commissioning ceremony for the Indian Arrival Monument that celebrated our diversity while promoting unity.

The Indian Arrival Monument stands as a vivid recognition and symbol of the importance of May 5, 1838. The Indians who arrived that day in Guyana were not the first immigrants to arrive in Guyana; but, like those who came before and after, their history and contributions represent an integral part of what Guyana is and what Guyanese are. We came at different times and under different circumstances, but we together make up this land. The future of our people depends on us proudly embracing Guyana’s diverse ethnicities and culture.

Our strength, our future, lies in our diversity. Thus while the Indian Arrival Monument symbolises the importance of the Indo-Guyanese people, past and present, in this rich diversity, it is a proud proclamation that the Guyanese people are blessed by our ethnic, cultural and religious diversities.

These events must be a powerful stage for unity, not another battleground for polarisation. By the deliberate sidelining of political opponents, Guyana missed another opportunity to stand united in diversity: one nation, one destiny.

responsibility – Foreign Secretary Greenidge

T

he responsibility of the newly appointed Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge, is primarily dedicated to protecting Guyana’s sovereignty full time. This was disclosed by the former Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, who was this week re-assigned by President David Granger.

During an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Foreign Secretary Greenidge described the responsibility as a prime and urgent concern since Guyana is still dealing with the Venezuela/ Guyana border controversy.

The matter is presently at

Foreign Secretary Carl Greenidge

the International Court of Justice for a juridical settlement.

“We have communication from the Government of Venezuela pertaining to our maritime space and raising questions about activities within our maritime space, even offshore of Demerara and Berbice. So, you do not really get a break to take a breather and settle down, we in the Ministry have been working,” Greenidge stated.

Additionally, he said that he is also in the process of renegotiating the Georgetown agreement.

That is the agreement that brings 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) to collaborate with the European Union for de-

velopment.

“We are working on that and there is a meeting of the Trade Ministers in this coming week to be followed by the Council of Ministers. So, my hands are pretty full and the main concern is to make sure that we do not lose any momentum as we do some of the organisational juggling,” Greenidge underscored.

On May 14, Government announced that Greenidge was appointed Foreign Secretary at the Foreign Affairs Ministry and now has responsibility for the Department of Frontiers and Territorial Integrity and the Department of Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Financial independence key to empowerment of women – First Lady

F

irst Lady Sandra Granger on Friday said she believes the financial independence of women will make them less vulnerable to abuse and advised that women use their skills to secure their financial freedom. Granger was at the time addressing 36 female graduates of her Early Childhood Development Workshop at a ceremony hosted in the Baridi Benab at State House.

“In this age when every single day we get up and read about people being slaughtered by so-called people who love them, I believe deeply, that once our women are financially independent it will be

very difficult for people to hold them [captive] by telling them ‘you can’t do anything,’” the First Lady said.

The First Lady further noted that being independent does not mean the same thing as being wealthy, but having the education and requisite skills to earn.

“It doesn’t mean you have to be the richest person or the most famous person, it means that when you stand you know who you are. You know what you have in you and you can build on all the skills that you developed… a group of you can even set up your own community day-care centre,” she said.

Women Across

First Lady Sandra Granger

Differences Coordinator, Clonel Samuels-Boston made similar statements in her address. She noted that too often persons are more aware of their limita-

tions than their potential.

“You don’t need to be perfect because nothing is and no person is and that is okay…do not allow other people’s opinions and judgements to control the direction of your life… You are born unique for a reason, you are born to stand out, to be appreciated and loved for who you are…

There are times when you will have failures in your life but it is what you do during those times that will determine the heights of your peaks,” she said.

The workshop was held in collaboration with the Social Protection Ministry and the Guyana Red Cross Society.

SASOD bashes Govt for sloth to legalise same-sex intimacy …as Pride Festival is launched

Managing Director of SASOD, Joel Simpson

M

anaging Director of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Joel Simpson on Friday used the Pride Festival launching event to bash the Government for its sloth in handling the amendment of laws of Guyana which will entitle them to equal rights.

Speaking at the launching of the Pride Festival at SASOD’s Duncan Street, Georgetown head office, Simpson said that the group

started advocacy for the project since 2017.

“We wanted to do this around Independence to make a political point that Guyana’s Independence project is not yet complete if we don’t have liberation of LGBTQ (Lesbians, Gays, Transgenders and questioning or queer) Guyanese. If we still have colonial-era laws which criminalise same-sex intimacy…loitering, vagrancy…all these kinds of colonial-era laws which were meant to control the then ex-slaves and indentured immigrants and we are saying that this independence that we are celebrating, 53 years and so on is really incomplete if we still have these shackles,” Simpson related.

The activist reminded that any form of intimacy between two people of the same sex is not allowed according to the laws of Guyana.

When it comes to the support of the Government, the SASOD Director said he was not pleased at all. In fact, he called for changes to

be made to existing laws to benefit the LGBTQ community.

He informed that back in 2017, the Attorney General, Basil Williams, had requested that the community create a draft legislation which will be considered. However, fast forward to 2019, no changes have been made to the law.

“For us the low hanging fruit, when it comes to legislative reform, is not that discriminatory law which criminalises same-sex intimacy, we think that should be reformed and that should go and the Government has also promised to appoint commissioners to the Law Reform Commission and we think that’s the site where that could be dealt with,” Simpson pointed out.

Furthermore, he told the media that “What we think the Government needs to do is amend the Prevention of Discrimination Act 1997 to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression”.

He pointed out that the bill has already been draft-

ed by the community and they are awaiting some calm in Parliament before it is tabled. Simpson noted that he would like to see the bill deliberated on by both the Opposition and Government.

The renewed calls for amended legislation by the LGBTQ community came on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) which was observed Friday.

UNAIDS has called on all countries to remove discriminatory laws against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

This year, the Pride Festival will commence on May 28. Several events will follow including the signature activity, the Pride Parade, on June 1. The parade assembles at Parade Ground along Carmichael Street, east into Church Street and south into Vlissengen Road where the fun winds down at the Square of the Revolution.

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SATURday, may 18, 2019

Regional

Norway says talks to resolve Venezuela 16 Venezuelans fined for illegally entering T&T crisis in "exploratory phase" S

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro attends a meeting with representatives of European and Latin American countries, members of the International Contact Group (ICG) at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela May 16, 2019

T

alks taking place in Oslo with representatives of Venezuela's Government and Opposition to resolve the country's political crisis are in an "exploratory phase," Norway's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The representatives of each side arrived in the Nordic country this week, signalling a fresh approach

to seek an end to months of tensions that have escalated since a failed uprising last month led by Opposition Leader Juan Guaidó who called on the military to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

The ruling socialist party, which has long said it is open to dialog, has endorsed the talks. But many sectors of the Opposition remain scepti-

cal, arguing that Maduro has in the past used dialog as a stalling tactic to maintain his grip on power as living standards steadily declined in the oil-rich nation.

Venezuela was thrust into a deep power struggle in January when Guaidó, the leader of the Oppositioncontrolled National Assembly, invoked the Constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate.

The United States and many European countries have recognised Guaidó as the South American country's rightful leader, but nearly four months after their endorsement Maduro retains control of state functions and the support of the top brass, as well as allies like Russia, Cuba and China. Norway has a tradition of conflict mediation, including assistance with Colombia's 2016 peace deal between the Government and FARC rebels. (Excerpt from MSN)

ixteen Venezuelans, including two women, were fined a total of TT$48,000 for illegally entering the country. Another Venezuelan, a 20-year-old student, was given a chance as he was reprimanded and discharged.

They all appeared before San Fernando Senior Magistrate Jo-Anne Connor in the First Court. They pleaded guilty. They were charged that on a date unknown, in an unknown area in the Gulf of Paria, they entered the country in a place not designated as a port of

entry and failed to report to an immigration officer for examination.

With the assistance of interpreter Christi Ramkissoon, Almeris Josefina Medrana Monroy and Yelitza Del Carmen Monroy, both housewives in their homeland, said they entered the country on Sunday.

One man said he came into the country two months ago and was planting crops with his friend in Ste Madeleine. They stayed in various areas including Duncan Village,

San Fernando, Penal, Marabella, Princes Town and Moruga.

Some of them left their children and wives in Venezuela to seek out work here while others came in search of a better life.

The student Pedro Chanel Maurera said he had to abandon his studies because of the economic and social crisis in his homeland. The Magistrate fined each of them TT$3000 which they have to pay in three months or serve six months in prison. (Trinidad Guardian)

Cuba says Boeing 737 plane crash last year likely due to crew errors

Brazil to revamp Amazon Fund after finding irregularities – Minister

B

razil will overhaul rules for selecting projects to reduce deforestation supported by the Amazon Fund, which is financed by Norway and Germany, after discovering irregularities in spending, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said on Friday.

Salles said non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had failed to account for the way they use money disbursed to them from the $1.28 billion fund administered by Brazilian state development bank

BNDES. Salles, a climate change sceptic, told reporters he and BNDES had agreed that the governance and rules for awards must be changed to better direct spending.

Salles said 82 per cent of the awards that the Ministry had inspected were granted without a bidding process and that he was recommending no new funding of projects for now.

The Norwegian embassy said it had neither received nor agreed to any proposal to change the management of the fund or the criteria for

allocating resources.

“Norway is satisfied with the robust governance structure of the Amazon Fund and the significant results that the entities supported by the Fund have achieved in the last 10 years,” it said in a statement.

The fund supports Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama in its efforts to go after illegal loggers in the world’s largest rainforest, which scientists see as vital to fight climate change because it absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Mexican journalist under Government protection plan shot dead

More than 100 journalists have been murdered across Mexico since 2000

A

Mexican journalist enrolled in a federal protection programme has been shot dead, the fifth reporter to be killed this year in one of the most dangerous countries for the press.

The blood-soaked body of crime reporter Francisco Romero was found on a pavement outside a nightclub in his hometown of Playa del Carmen along Mexico's Caribbean coast on Thursday, authorities said.

Romero ran a Facebook-

based news site called "Ocurrio Aqui" (It Happened Here) that covers local politics and crime and had more than 17,000 followers. He also worked for one of the state's leading newspapers, Quintana Roo Hoy. The state prosecutor's office opened a homicide investigation, saying Romero had filed a complaint on April 12 over threats he had received.

The source of those threats was not specified. Romero's wife Veronica Rodriguez said he had regularly re-

ceived threats over his work, which sometimes rubbed Local Government officials the wrong way.

Reporters Without Borders said Romero received a phone call at 5am on Thursday, informing him about some incident at a local nightclub called the Gotta Gentleman Club. Although he had four bodyguards, provided by the Government, he had sent them home at 22:00h the night before, it said in a statement.

Romero, who also had a panic button to alert the authorities if his life was in danger, went without them to the club. His body was found an hour later.

Witnesses said he was beaten and shot twice in the face, the organisation said.

Romero was under an official protection programme for journalists since 2018, according to Balbina Flores, Mexico director for Reporters Without Borders.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Rescue teams search through the wreckage site of a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a cassava field with more than 100 passengers on board, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport in Havana, Cuba

C

uba said on Thursday an investigation into the crash a year ago of a Boeing 737 in Havana that killed all but one of the 113 people aboard suggests the most probable cause was errors by the crew that died in the tragedy.

The 39-year-old plane, leased by the little-known Mexican company Damojh to Cuba's flagship carrier Cubana, dived into fields south of Havana shortly after taking off on a domestic flight last May 18, bursting into flames.

"The most probable cause of the accident were

the actions of the crew and their errors in the calculations of weight and balance that led to loss of control of the plane and its fall during the takeoff phase," the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics said in a statement.

Neither Damojh nor Boeing Co were immediately available for comment.

The crew, that was included in Damojh's lease agreement with Damojh, was Mexican. Most of the passengers on the flight to the eastern city of Holguin were Cuban.

Damojh said last July

that black boxes retrieved from the wreckage showed the crew had piloted it at a “very steep angle," leading to a lack of lift that made the plane plunge after takeoff.

The Cuban-led commission investigating the crash, including Mexican and US agencies, said at the time the conclusion was premature. Damojh was banned from flying in Guyana in 2017 because of safety concerns. Mexico’s aviation authority said that it had suspended Damojh in 2010 and 2013 during regulatory compliance reviews. (Excerpt from MSN)

Barbados PM tight-lipped on sale of country’s majority shares in LIAT

A

s LIAT shareholder Governments struggle to come up with a viable solution to keep the island-hopping carrier in the skies, Prime Minister Mia Mottley is remaining tightlipped on the talks while a fellow shareholder suggests Barbados wants to offload its majority stake.

Mottley stopped short of saying whether Government would dispose of its 49 per cent interest in the cashstrapped carrier, declaring instead that she will not be having any discussions in the public domain.

She would only say that she was focused on ensuring reliable and affordable regional transport. The Prime

Minister was responding to a question during the annual luncheon of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC) at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Her comments come amid speculation that Bridgetown intends to give up its shares so it could start its own airline. It’s been a week since fellow shareholder, the government of Antigua and Barbuda, confirmed that it had officially submitted a document to authorities in Barbados indicating interest in buying its shares.

According to reports out of St John’s, following a recent meeting of the airline’s shareholder governments at which Mottley was not pres-

ent, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said a proposal was submitted to the Barbados Government on May 7, and he was anticipating a favourable response.

The Barbados representative reportedly indicated that the proposal would be examined. While sources have indicated that the Barbados Government was willing to sell its shares, responding to the question for an update on regional transport and issues relating to LIAT today, Mottley said she would speak on the matter at an “appropriate time”, suggesting that discussions were at a delicate stage.

(Excerpt from Caribbean360)

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURday, may 18, 2019

17

Around the World

China backs Iran Kenya’s ex-President Daniel arap during US tensions Moi ordered to pay for land grab

C

hina offered strong support to Iran on Friday, with its top diplomat telling Iran’s Foreign Minister that China opposes unilateral sanctions and supports Tehran’s efforts to safeguard its interests.

US-Iranian tensions have escalated in recent days, bringing increasing concerns about possible conflict.

Iran has said it is committed to its obligations under an international nuclear deal despite the US withdrawal from the agreement last year, and has called the re-imposition of US sanctions unacceptable.

Meeting in Beijing, Chinese State Councillor

Wang Yi told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that given the important and rapidly-evolving situation, the two needed to strengthen communication and coordination.

“China resolutely opposes the US implementation of unilateral sanctions and so-called ‘long arm jurisdiction’, understands the current situation and concerns of the Iranian side, and supports the Iranian side to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” China’s Foreign Ministry paraphrased Wang as saying.

China appreciates Iran’s full implementation of the nuclear deal and intention

to stick to it, Wang added.

China’s Foreign Ministry cited Zarif as saying that Iran has no intention to withdraw from the nuclear agreement and opposes war. “The Strait of Hormuz maintains its status as an international transportation channel,” the statement cited Zarif as saying.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have threatened to close the strategic waterway, through which a significant part of the world’s oil supply flows.

China has close energy and business ties with Iran, but has to tread carefully as it has also cultivated good relations with Iran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Daniel arap Moi was President for 24 years

A

court in Kenya has ordered former President Daniel arap Moi to pay 1.06 billion shillings (US$10.5million; £8.2 million) in compensation to a widow for illegally seizing her land.

Moi transferred to him-

self 53 acres of land belonging to widow Susan Cheburet Chelugui, the judge ruled.

The land was illegally grabbed 36 years ago but only transferred to Moi’s name in 2007.

Chelugui’s husband Noah Chelugui was a local chief during Moi’s rule.

The former President, who remains Kenya’s longest-serving leader, was accused by Chelugui and her son David Chelugui of transferring their family land into his name two years after Chelugui’s husband passed away.

Moi is then said to have sold the land to Rai Plywood Limited, a timber firm, the BBC’s Mercy Juma reports from Nairobi.

Rai Plywood Limited told the judge that it had bought

the land from Moi in 2007 after thorough legal checks.

However, Moi was unable to provide the court any proof of how he came to possess the land, BBC’s correspondent said.

Judge Anthony Ombwayo said Moi had behaved in a way that was “unconstitutional, irregular, unprocedural” and “tainted”.

Moi became Kenya’s second President in 1978 and served until 2002.

He ruled the country with an iron fist and was accused of human rights abuses.

Under international pressure, he allowed multi-party elections in 1992, which were marred by widespread violence and allegations of rigging. (Excerpt from BBC News)

India: PM Modi slams BJP candidate’s Gandhi assassin comments Labour-Tory Brexit talks end without deal

Modi’s BJP has been accused by critics of showing increasing intolerance towards Muslims in Hindu-majority India

I

ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned a firebrand Hindu candidate from his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who called the assassin of independence icon Mahatma Gandhi a “patriot”.

Modi was forced to act on

Friday after a backlash grew over the comments made 24 hours earlier by Pragya Singh Thakur, who separately faces charges in connection with a 2008 mosque bombing that killed six people.

Thakur issued an apology for her statement that Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse “was, is, and will remain a patriot”, but it failed to douse the controversy, and the Hindu nationalist BJP said it had launched an inquiry into the incident.

Gandhi was shot three times in January 1948 by Godse, a Hindu fanatic angered by what he considered to be Gandhi’s pandering to Muslims and by India’s partition after independence from Britain in 1947.

On Friday, Modi told India’s News 24 channel that Thakur’s “lan-

guage and thoughts should be condemned and are unacceptable in a civilised society”.

India’s main opposition Indian National Congress party, which Gandhi once led, said Modi’s words “mean nothing” and called on the 68-year-old to take “real action” over Thakur.

The BJP last month named Thakur as its parliamentary candidate in the state capital of India’s central Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, prompting criticism from opponents who accused the party of using her candidacy in a bid to polarise voters along religious lines.

The 49-year-old candidate, commonly known as Sadhvi Pragya, has since emerged as a symbol of a Hindu nationalist movement showing increasing intolerance towards Muslims in Hindu-majority India.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Iran calls for “concrete action” to save nuclear deal

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart State Councillor Wang Yi

I

ran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged “friends”, including China and Russia, to take “concrete action” to safeguard the 2015 nuclear deal following the States’ decision to tighten sanctions on Tehran after exiting the agreement last year.

Zarif’s meeting with State Councillor Wang Yi was part of an intense diplomatic effort to salvage the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive

Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The landmark pact, negotiated between Iran and six world powers, offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. But it increasingly appears to be in danger of unravelling with the US reinstating sanctions and moving to choke off Iran’s oil exports by scrapping waivers it had granted to big buyers of the country’s crude oil, including China.

US-Iran tensions escalated further last week when Washington deployed warships and bombers to the Middle East, citing unspecified threats from Tehran.

Speaking before his meeting with Wang, Zarif said the international community has so far “mainly made statements instead of saving” the nuclear deal.

“If the international community and other JCPOA member countries, and our friends in the JCPOA like China and Russia, want to keep this achievement, it is required that they make sure the Iranian people enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA with concrete actions,” he said.

Despite Washington’s campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran, the country has vowed to keep selling oil to its main customers, especially China, even if by indirect means.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

an extension until October 31.

This prompted negotiations between the Conservatives and Labour to see if the parties could come to a Brexit agreement, despite differences over issues including membership of a customs union and a further referendum.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn

T

alks between Labour and the Government aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse have ended without an agreement.

Jeremy Corbyn said the discussions had “gone as far as they can”, blaming what he called the Government’s “increasing weakness and instability”.

Theresa May said the lack of a “common position” within Labour over a further referendum had made talks “difficult”.

The Prime Minister said she would now consider putting options to MPs on

Brexit that may “command a majority”.

But Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called the end of the talks a “very negative development”.

May has promised to set a timetable for leaving Downing Street following a House of Commons vote on her EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week beginning June 3.

Brexit had been due to take place on March 29 but after MPs voted down the deal May had negotiated with the bloc three times, the EU gave the UK

Some MPs have also criticised May for even entering into talks with Labour, but the Prime Minister said the Government had “no choice but to reach out across the House of Commons”.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports her Government on certain issues, opposes May’s agreement with the EU over its implications for Northern Ireland.

Following the collapse of the discussions with Labour, DUP Leader Arlene Foster said: “This round of talks has wasted time rather than making progress and reducing uncertainty. It was always doomed to failure.” (Excerpt from BBC News)

Egypt’s President Sisi pardons 560 prisoners

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gypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned 560 prisoners, the majority of whom were accused of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, two judicial sources said on Friday.

Of those pardoned, 482 were imprisoned on charges related to the Brotherhood, a decades-old Islamist political movement with a mass following, the sources said.

A prominent journalist, Abdel Halim Qandil, who was sentenced in 2017 to three years in prison on charges of insulting the judiciary, was also pardoned.

The pardoned prisoners also included two women who organized demonstrations outside metro stations last year after fare hikes.

The prisoners are expected to be released on Friday. The pardons were announced in the official gazette late on Thursday.

The Brotherhood won the first free elections after the 2011 uprising that ended autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, but was toppled by the army after a year in power.

Since then, the group has been banned and hundreds of its followers have been jailed. The

Brotherhood says it is a non-violent movement and denies any relationship to violent insurgencies waged by al Qaeda and Islamic State militants.

Rights activists say Sisi has overseen a relentless crackdown on dissent in Egypt since 2014. At least 60,000 people have been jailed on political grounds, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate.

Sisi has denied holding political prisoners and his backers say the measures were necessary to stabilise Egypt after its 2011 uprising. (Excerpt from Reuters)

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guyanatimesgy.com

SATURday, may 18, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

dilbert

An offer someone makes will have strings attached.

Get the nitty-gritty before you contribute something you aren’t likely to get back. Evaluate partnerships based on equality and fairness.

CANCER

Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Your priority should be personal changes that will enhance your life, important relationships and immediate environment. Stop talking and start taking action.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

Ask questions and find out where you stand.

Knowing what you are up against will make it easier for you to put a plan in motion that will suit your needs.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

(June 21July 22)

Peanuts

Consider every angle before you make a life-changing move. It’s important to have a plan in place and something to fall back on, if necessary.

Trust facts, not hearsay.

Stay focused on what you can do to improve your life. Size up situations that have been dragging you down and consider the best way to distance yourself from bad influences.

Taking a day trip, attending a conference or reunion, or learning something that will help you get ahead professionally should be your plan. Keep an open mind and try something new.

You may feel that you are at a disadvantage or have been ousted by something beyond your control, but, in the end, the outcome will turn in your favour. Adjust and proceed.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Big ideas don’t have to be fulfilled right away.

A steady pace and wellthought-out plan will get you where you want to go.

Romance will enhance your personal life.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Exaggeration will lead to trouble. Stick to the facts and avoid giving looselipped people personal information that could be used against you. Adopt simplicity and moderation.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

solution for LAST PUBLISHED puzzle AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Put your plans in motion. You can make changes at home that will improve your life, relationships, and attitude. Do the work yourself and save money.

Be careful whom you share information with.

Not everyone will be open with you about beliefs and attitudes. Concentrate on making personal improvements and avoiding emotional situations.

If you keep life simple, everything will turn out the way you want. If you let someone meddle or convince you to do things in an excessive manner, problems will surface.

saturday, MAY 18, 2019

19

Nadal reaches semis, Roger Federer withdraws D efending champion and eight-time winner Rafael Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-0 to reach the Italian Open semi-finals.

Nadal, who has lost in the semi-finals of his past four tournaments, came from 2-0 down to win in one hour 38 minutes.

He next faces 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, who went through following the withdrawal of Roger Federer.

World number three Federer, a four-time finalist in Rome, was unable to compete because of a right leg injury.

Nadal, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, conceded only two games in his matches against Jeremy Chardy and Nikoloz Basilashvili on Thursday, but had to save a point to prevent a 3-0 deficit against fellow left-hander Verdasco.

He survived three break points at 4-4 in the first set but needed only 36 minutes to win the second.

Argentina’s world number 24 Diego Schwartzman secured his place in the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-2 win over Japan’s Kei Nishikori in one hour 28 minutes.

Schwartzman will face compatriot Juan Martin del Potro or Serbia’s world number one Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday’s final.

Federer was competing in the Italian Open for the first time since 2016.

The Swiss, 37, saved two match points to defeat Borna Coric 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) on Thursday, having beaten Joao Sousa in straight sets earlier in the day.

“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete today,” said the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

“I am not 100% physically and after consultation with my team, it was determined that I not play.

“Rome has always been one of my favourite cities to visit and I hope to be back next year.”

Konta into semi-finals, Osaka withdraws

British number one Johanna Konta reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open with a 6-3 3-6 6-1 win over Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova.

On her 28th birthday, Konta, who sealed the last of her three WTA titles in 2017, won in an hour and 53 minutes.

She faces Kiki Bertens in the last four after the Dutch player advanced because world number one Naomi Osaka pulled out with a hand injury.

Karolina Pliskova beat another former world number one, Victoria Azarenka.

Czech Pliskova’s semi-final opponent will be Greece’s Maria Sakkari, who won 11 of the last 12 games to beat Kristina Mladenovic of France 5-7 6-3 6-0.

Victory for world number 39 Sakkari, who overcame Konta in the final to claim the Morocco Open title this month, means there will be a qualifier in the final four in Rome for the first time since Daria Gavrilova in 2015.

With Vondruosova showing the effects of two three-set matches the day before, Konta quickly took control and sealed the opening set with a deft drop volley at the net.

But after an emotional discussion with her coach, the 19-year-old left-hander, who won their only previous meeting on the hard courts of Indian Wells last year, seized on a loose game from Konta to break in the fifth game of the next.

A wild forehand from the Briton went wide and long to take the match to a decider.

Rafael Nadal

Konta, who also played two matches on Thursday, saved a break point in the second game with a backhand that clipped the line and then broke in the next in a run of six successive games.

Naomi Osaka was among those to play two matches on Thursday after rain washed out Wednesday’s play at the Italian Open Osaka will remain world number one next week, following Simona Halep’s second-round exit to Vondrousova on Thursday.

Pliskova recorded her 500th career win with a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-2 victory over Azarenka, levelling their head-to-head record at 4-4.

She wrapped up victory in two hours 26 minutes to avenge a loss to Azarenka - who also has 500 career wins - in their most recent meeting on the indoor clay-courts of Stuttgart last month. (BBC Sport)

Koepka continues to set the WBC world heavyweight title on pace at PGA Championship the line after acrimonious build-up

B

rooks Koepka kept the pedal down in the second round at the PGA Championship on Friday as Tommy Fleetwood gave chase and Tiger Woods just about disappeared in the rear-view mirror.

Koepka, seeking to become the first player to win backto-back PGA Championships and U.S. Opens, showed from the very start that he was not going to abandon his attacking philosophy at Bethpage Black.

Taking advantage of the relatively easy early stretch, he plundered birdies at three of the first four holes, before parring to the turn to be 10 under par for the tournament and bogey-free through 27 holes.

The American was five shots clear of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who had completed 12 holes, and Texan Jordan Spieth, the clubhouse leader after carding a four-under-par 66 in the morning.

Woods, meanwhile, was languishing down the leaderboard though a long-overdue birdie at the par-four ninth gave his fans in the boisterous gallery something to cheer about.

He was two over after nine holes, not yet certain of advancing to the weekend as the cut looms at three over par, or four over at most.

Playing in the same group as Koepka, 43-year-old Woods was simply outplayed and the Masters champion looked a pale shadow of the

man who memorably grabbed a 15th major title at Augusta last month.

Spieth, who would complete the career grand slam with a win this week, overcame some errant tee shots and looked like his old self on the greens as he putted with confidence.

The three-times major champion, who arrived at Bethpage Black with just two top-25 finishes all year, began the second round on the back nine and made his sixth birdie of the day at his penultim a t e hole with a 39-foot putt. “ I made a few good par-saving putts and took advantage of the e a s y holes,” s a i d Spieth.

“This golf course you can’t (force it). It requires more patience which feeds into what I’m trying to do.”

World number one Dustin Johnson (66) was joined on four-under by fellow American

Daniel Berger (66).

New Zealander Danny Lee, one shot behind Koepka overnight, fell back with consecutive double-bogeys but steadied the ship and eked out a 74 for two-under 138.

“I had one heck of a fight on the back nine, made a lot of good putts, a lot of birdies,” said Lee. “And I think I needed that to have a good momentum carryover for tomorrow.”

Rory McIlroy birdied four of his final five holes to ensure he would make the cut with a three-over 143 score, though he will need a miracle to reel in Koepka and the other frontrunners.

(Reuters)

Brooks Koepka

Deontay Wilder (left) will be defending his title for the ninth time against Dominic Breazeale

D

ominic Breazeale says he will mentally break Deontay Wilder and ensure the WBC world heavyweight champion never wants to lace up boxing gloves again.

Breazeale, 33, challenges his fellow American on Saturday after an acrimonious and controversial build-up.

The pair were involved in a scuffle at a hotel in 2017 and Wilder has drawn fightweek scrutiny for comments about killing an opponent in the ring.

“I am Deontay Wilder’s retirement plan,” said Breazeale.

“I will beat him so bad that he is not going to want to ever lace up the gloves again. When I am done with him the mental aspect of boxing is going to be completely beaten out of him.

“This belt is everything to me, it’s my Super Bowl.”

Wilder will need to block out widespread criticism for his fight-week comments from the likes of Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn and the World Boxing Council, who have summoned him to a hearing for his comments on death in the boxing ring.

In a lively final news conference he stated his “blood is boiling”, while the fighters disagreed on exactly what happened when they were involved in an altercation in 2017, with

Breazeale adamant he was punched by one of his rival’s team in front of his family.

“There are so many things I have said and I mean every word,” said Wilder. “This has been a long time coming to him. He asked for this and he shall receive.

“The closest you’ll get to this belt is in your dreams. You will feel it though, my actions speak louder than my words. When they get in the ring with me, it’s more than a boxing match.

This is not a game. I’m not in this business to make friends.”

Breazeale’s only defeat of a 21-fight career came in a 2016 stoppage loss to unified world champion Anthony Joshua but the California fighter insists he has improved immeasurably since.

Wilder will compete for the first time since his enthralling draw with Tyson Fury in December and starts a a 1-10 favourite with bookmakers.

A Wilder win will undoubtedly lead to fresh demand for a lucrative meeting with Joshua, despite failed negotiations in the past.

Ultimately, defeat for either Wilder, Joshua or Fury in fights over the next four weeks would prove hugely damaging for the beaten party, with the public eager to see them face off against one another. (BBC Sport)

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, MAY 18, 2019

Stokes leads rescue as Jason Roy’s ton sets up England victory R

oy’s century laid the foundation but it was Stokes’ rescue mission after England suffered a mini-collapse against Pakistan that delivered the hosts a three-wicket victory with three balls to spare at Trent Bridge and an unassailable 3-0 series lead.

Belligerent is a term at risk of being over-used in cricket but it is simply the essence of Roy’s batting style and was there for all to see as he stepped back and away to club Mohammad Hafeez over the extra cover boundary to bring up his eighth ODI century.

His knock of 114 off 89 showed far fewer signs of the rust he had to scrape off en route to 87 in the second match of the series in Southampton, his return from a back injury. And it is telling of the lofty standards he apparently expects of himself that he pumped both fists in triumph and looked to the skies, rolling his eyes in relief, upon reaching his ton, as though that commendable 87 and the 79 that followed in Bristol were not good enough.

However, when he was was out for 114, edging behind a pull at Mohammad Hasnain, England’s chase looked like being derailed.

England lost the wickets of Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali in quick succession, a collapse of 4 for 15, and it fell to Stokes - who had been rather subdued in recent times - to save the day. Stokes played with a cool head and, at the right times, a swinging bat to reach an unbeaten 71 off 64 balls.

He was well supported by Tom Curran, who followed his four wickets to be the pick of the England bowlers with an important cameo of 31 off 30. Before he got off single figures, Curran survived two run-out chances off the same ball, narrowly in the second instance with replays suggesting he may have been out had Pakistan made an issue of it.

Roy’s innings was not chanceless. He was dropped

by Fakhar Zaman off Imad Wasim while on 27 and with England 62 without loss. The mistake - not the only one in the field by Pakistan - proved costly.

James Vince, opening in place of the resting Jonny Bairstow, made a handy score without going on with it, his 43 off 39 balls coming during a stand of 94 with Roy. Root also chipped in but after he was out on the second grab by Hafeez in a tricky one-handed juggling effort over his shoulder off the bowling of Imad, England lost Buttler and Moeen for ducks.

Joe Denly, in the side as a back-up spin bowling prospect for the World Cup found himself in the role of potential batting saviour alongside Stokes. With England needing 101 off

80 balls the pair went into steadying mode, with the likes of Curran, Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer still available as testament to their formidable batting depth - with or without Bairstow and the suspended Eoin Morgan.

That depth was called upon, however, when Denly fell to a brilliant caught-and-bowled by Junaid Khan, the left-armer changing direction on his follow-through and leaping high to his right to pull down the ball and send Denly on his way for 17.

Needing 44 off the last five overs, Stokes and Curran looked comfortable but when Curran was bowled by Hasan Ali, England needed 22 off 16. A six and a four in Junaid’s next over as good as settled things, before Stokes hit the winning run off Hasan.

Earlier, Babar Azam’s steady-handed 115 off 113 balls helped Pakistan to 340 for 7.

Babar was involved in two century partnerships after Pakistan overcame the loss of in-form opener Imam-ul-Haq, who retired hurt on just 3 when he was struck flush on the left elbow attempting to pull a Mark Wood delivery in the fourth over. X-rays revealed no fracture but he remained in the changing-room with his arm packed in ice until late in the innings.

Fakhar and Babar steered their side to 116 before the first wicket fell to some good pressure from Curran. Looking to smack the ball over cover, Fakhar sent the ball to third man, where Wood claimed a good catch diving forwards.

Babar and Hafeez teamed up for the second century stand of Pakistan’s innings, Hafeez cracking a boundary off Wood to bring up his half-century before Wood’s response was to have him caught simply at mid-on by substitute fielder Chris Jordan for 59.

Babar brought up his centuBen Stokes ry with a sweetly struck four off Curran, but he was out slicing the same bowler over cover as Archer ran in to take a fine catch.

3

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan Innings (50 overs maximum) Imam-ul-Haq not out 6 Fakhar Zaman c Wood b Curran 57 Babar Azam c Archer b Curran 115 Mohammad Hafeez c sub (CJ Jordan) b Wood 59 Shoaib Malik hit wicket b Wo od 41 Asif Ali c Wood b Archer 17 Imad Wasim b Curran 12 Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) † not out

21 Hasan Ali c Denly b Curran 1 Extras (lb 4, w 7) 11 TOTAL (50 Overs, RR: 6.8) 340-7 Did not bat: Mohammad Hasnain, Junaid Khan Fall of wickets: 1-116 (Fakhar Zaman, 19.6 ov), 2-220 (Mohammad Hafeez, 36.4 ov), 3-249 (Babar Azam, 39.4 ov), 4-280 (Asif Ali, 42.6 ov), 5-298 (Imad Wasim, 44.6 ov), 6-316 (Shoaib Malik, 46.4 ov), 7-319 (Hasan Ali, 47.2 ov) BOWLING JC Archer (10-0-62-1) MA Wood (10-0-71-2) JL Denly (5-0-27-0) TK Curran (10-0-75-4) AU Rashid (7-0-49-0) BA Stokes (4-0-22-0)

MM Ali

(4-0-30-0)

England Innings (target: 341 runs from 50 overs) JJ Roy c †Sarfaraz Ahmed b Mohammad Hasnain 114 JM Vince b Mohammad Has nain 43 JE Root c Mohammad Hafeez b Imad Wasim 36 BA Stokes not out 71 JC Buttler (c) † c Mohammad Hasnain b Imad Wasim 0 MM Ali c Fakhar Zaman b Shoaib Malik 0 JL Denly c & b Junaid Khan 17 TK Curran b Hasan Ali 31 AU Rashid not out 12 Extras (lb 5, w 12) 17 TOTAL (49.3 Overs, RR: 6.88) 341-7 Yet to bat: JC Archer, MA Wood Fall of wickets: 1-94 (JM Vince, 13.3 ov), 2-201 (JJ Roy, 27.4 ov), 3-208 (JE Root, 28.3 ov), 4-208 (JC Buttler, 28.5 ov), 5-216 (MM Ali, 30.2 ov), 6-258 (JL Denly, 39.6 ov), 7-319 (TK Curran, 47.2 ov) BOWLING J Khan (10-0-85-1) H Ali (9.3-0-57-1) I Wasim (10-0-62-2) M Hasnain (10-0-80-2) M Hafeez (8-0-48-0) Shoaib Malik (2-0-4-1)

When Imam returned with seven wickets down and only 16 balls remaining, he looked in some discomfort still and it begged the question whether it might have been wise to put in a batsman who could swing with more freedom, especially when he added just three more runs to his score.

Curran claimed 4 for 75 off 10 overs but looked gutted not to have bagged five wickets as he walked off.

Wood made an encouraging return to cricket, showing the pace and wicket-taking ability that heralded his initial comeback from an ankle injury in the Caribbean. Playing his first match since early March against West Indies, he hit 91.6mph in his first over here and ended with 2 for 71 off his 10 overs. (ESPN cricinfo)

NBA dismisses Evans from Corona Futsal Tournament league for drug violation continues tonight

T

yreke Evans was dismissed and disqualified from the NBA on Friday for violating the terms of the league’s anti-drug program.

Evans, a 10-year NBA veteran who played last season for the Indiana Pacers and was an unrestricted free agent, is eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.

The NBA, NBA teams, and the NBA Players Association are prohibited from publicly disclosing information regarding the testing or treatment of any NBA player under the AntiDrug Program, other than to announce a player’s suspension or dismissal from the league.

The Pacers released a statement, saying, “The Indiana Pacers were informed Friday by the NBA that Tyreke Evans has been dismissed from the league for a violation of the league’s anti-drug policy. We take these matters seriously and will reach out to Tyreke to offer our support.”

The last player to be banned from the NBA for a violation of the drug policy was O.J. Mayo on July 1, 2016.

Evans, 29, averaged 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 20.3 minutes in 69 games last season, his first with the Pacers.

Evans, the fourth pick

A Tyreke Evans

in the 2009 draft out of Memphis, averaged a career-best 20.1 points as a rookie with the Sacramento Kings. The 6-foot-6 guard has played for the Kings (2009-13, 2017), the New Orleans Pelicans (201317), the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-18) and the Pacers.

He has a career average of 15.7 points. (Reuters)

fter Tuesday night’s intense Corona Futsal showdown at the National Gymnasium, many teams will be fighting for top honours as they compete in the final round of the round robin format this evening.

The winners, runners-up and the best two 3rd placed teams from the three groups will advance to the Quarterfinals, which are scheduled for Monday, May 27.

In ‘Group A’, after playing two matches each, Back Circle are currently leading the table with 6 points, while Sparta Boss and California Square are on 4 and 1 point respectively. Beacons are yet to win a game.

In ‘Group B’, Bent Street and Future Stars are each sitting comfortably on 4 points, while Leopold Street are on three points and Mocha are yet to register a game.

And in ‘Group C’, Tiger Bay are on

Part of the ongoing action

6 points while North East La Penitence and West Front Road are tied on 3 points.

Tucville currently remain winless.

Tonight’s final round of prelim matches will kick start with Beacons taking on California Square at 19:30 hrs, while Mocha and Future Stars will do battle at 20:15 hrs.

Tucville and West Front Road will clash from 21:00hrs, while Tiger Bay meet North East La Penitence at 21:45hrs. Leopold Street will face Bent Street from 22:30hrs, while Back Circle oppose Sparta Boss from 23:15hrs to culminate the night.

The first place winner will receive $500,000, whilst second place will pocket $250,000. Third place will cop a $125,000 prize, while fourth will have to settle for $75,000. The MVP of the tournament is also expected to receive a large prize.

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, may 18, 2019

21

STAG Beer, Let’s Bet Sports on board with Guyana Carnival 7s Rugby T

he action will continue this Sunday as the STAG Trinidad Northern Rugby Football Club will headline Guyana Carnival 7s Rugby tournament, set for the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground, commencing at 13:00hrs.

The tournament is in its second year and as such will see ANSA McAL behind their STAG Beer brand as the title sponsor, while the Guyana Lottery Company’s Let’s Bet Sports, Pepsi and Ramps Logistics are the other major sponsors.

The STAG Beer-sponsored Trinidadian Rugby Club, will be competing in Guyana for the very first time, and will face the likes of Panthers, defending champions Pepsi Hornets, Caribs and the Guyana Police Force. The Pepsi Hornets are expected to be boosted by the likes of Abdullah Silverton, arguably one of the best players in Trinidad, and Blaise Bailey, returning from the United States.

Rawle Toney, Vice President of the Pepsi Hornets Rugby Club and one of the principals behind the tournament, stated

that all is set for the second edition of the only sporting event on the Guyana Carnival Calendar. Toney indicated that the players will want to use the tournament to fine tune their skills ahead of Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament in July.

Meanwhile, ANSA McAL’s STAG Beer Brand Manager Nigel Worrell made a presentation to Pepsi Hornets Treasurer Roger Perreira at the company’s Beterverwagting (BV) headquarters. According to Worrell, the sponsorship once against demonstrates ANSA McAL’s continued commitment to sports, and in this case, sports tourism, since the tournament will feature teams and players from outside of Guyana. Worrell noted that the company will continue to support the STAG Beer Carnival 7’s and encourages everyone to head down to the GFC Ground on Sunday to support the event.

The tournament will mark Let’s Bet Sports’ first time sponsoring Rugby.

Pepsi Hornets Treasurer Roger Perreira (left) receiving the sponsor’s cheque from STAG Beer Brand Manager Nigel Worrell

Trophy Stall on board 592 Beer, I-Cool Water Softball Cup

CLASSIFIED – registration closes May 21 ADS he start of the 592 The over-40 teams will pay FOR SALE

1 COMPLETE 6 BASS MUSIC SYSTEM. TEL: 601-9855 / 253-3070 • SMALL BUS/VAN – GOOD CONDITION $380,000 NEGOTIABLE680-3863 • TOYOTA COROLLA CAR, LEFT HAND DRIVE $380,000 NEGOTIABLE -680-3863 • STAND UP FREEZER - $85,000- 680-3863

NOTICE INVITATION TO REGISTER IN THE CARICOM SECRETARIAT’S VENDORS, CONSULTANTS AND HOUSING DATABASES. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat herewith invites all consultants and suppliers of goods and services (including those vendors who provide housing accommodation) to register as preferred suppliers. Online registration of consultants and suppliers of goods and services can be done through the web portal that is available at http:// vendors.caricom.org/. For vendors who provide rental housing accommodation, online registration in the Housing database can be done through the web portal that is available at https://housing.caricom. org/. Queries regarding the registration process in any of the databases should be addressed to: Programme Manager, Procurement, CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana. Email: procurement@caricom.org. Or procurement.group2@caricom.org APPLICATION FOR MONEY LENDER CERTIFICATE. PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE MONEY LENDER ACT. I CEDRIC JOEL WEEKES OF LOT 8 DEN AMSTEL OLD ROAD, WEST COAST DEMERARA GUYANA IS HERE

BY GIVING NOTICE THAT I HAVE APPLIED TO THE MAGISTRATE OF THE GEROGETOWN MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT FOR A CERTIFICATE UNDER THE MONEY LENDER LICENSE, AUTHORISING THE GRANT TO ME OF A MONEY LENDER LICENSE TO CARRY ON THE BUSINESS OF A MONEY LENDER UNDER THE TITLE, WEEKES FAST CASH PAWNSHOP AT LOT Y BLANKEN BURG PUBLIC ROAD WEST COAST DEMERARA. NOTICE OF ANY OBJECTION TO THE APPLICATION SHOULD BE SENT FORTHWITH TO THE CLERK OF THE COURT OF GEORGETOWN MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT AND A COPY OF SUCH NOTICE SHOULD BE SENT TO THE SUBSCRIBER CEDRIC JOEL WEEKES (APPLICANT) DATED AT GEORGETOWN DEMERARA THE DAY MAY 2019.

TO LET FURNISHED AND UNFURNISHED APARTMENT TO RENT 3 E PUBLIC ROAD LUSIGNAN -638-9803, 6564163

VACANCY • COOK-624-0033 • DRIVER AND PORTER FOR WATER DELIVERY TRUCK – 680-3863

WANTED TAILOR AND SEAMSTRESS TEL: 6019855 / 253-3070

T

Beer, I-Cool Water nationwide Softball Tournament has been pushed back to May 26 after an outpouring of support from teams across the country. This was disclosed by organizer Samuel Kingston of the Demerara Softball Cricket Association (DSCA), after receiving the trophies for the tournament from Trophy Stall at South Road, Bourda.

The handing over ceremony also signals collaboration between the organisers and Trophy Stall, who joins ANSA McAL as sponsors of the tournament. Kingston also disclosed that teams consisting of players over 40 years old have expressed their interest in playing, and the association has created a separate category for them.

an entrance fee of $15,000, which would also give them one case of 592 beer, one case of I-Cool Water, and one dozen tournament balls.

Like in the Open tournament, teams will play a round robin format before the top teams head to the knockout stages. The winning Open team will get $160,000 and a trophy, the runner-up Open team will get $40,000 and a trophy, while the Over-40 teams will play for cash incentives and trophies as well.

Teams desirous of entering have until Tuesday, May 21, to get registered in their respective areas.

In West Demerara, teams can contact Omesh on 6757961; on the Essequibo Coast, captains or managers may call Patrick Rooplall

on 671-5697; in Berbice, Roy Jaferalli can be contacted on 654-8187; and in Georgetown and East Bank Demerara, Samuel Kingston can be had on 692-8815.

The Open teams are required to pay an entrance fee of $12,000 and will get one case of 592 beer, one case of I-Cool Water, and one dozen tournament balls for their first round match.

The opening round of action is set for May 26 at the Gandhi Youth Organization ground on Woolford Avenue in Georgetown.

Matches will be played in Berbice and Georgetown.

Devi Sunich of Trophy Stall handing over the winning trophy and balls to Samuel Kingston

Archery Guyana gets closer to the target

A

rchery Guyana is expected to benefit from advanced training techniques and skills when its Outdoor Champion (2018) Robert Singh leaves for San Fernando, Trinidad to participate in a development coaching seminar with the world-renowned South Korean Archery Coach Kim Hyung-Tak from 18th to 21st May 2019.

Coach Kim started archery in 1967 when archery was first introduced to Korea, and in 1971 he became the first Korean archery coach. He then studied and further developed archery techniques for archers.

He established the fundamentals of Korean archery by passing on archery know-how to Korean coaches and athletes from 1983 to 1986, ‘nurturing’ the first gold and bronze medals at the 1984 LA Olympics and several world records.

From 1989 to 1994, he led the Taiwanese national team to a world class standard.

For 12 years, since 2002, as elected Coach Committee of the World Archery Federation, he has conducted seminars, coached archers across the world, and participated in developing a coaching manual.

Coach Kim has provided opportunities to several archery coaches and archers across the world by publishing the Kim Hyung-tak archery book.

Current Korean archers follow this coaching manual which was published by Korea Archery Association in 2012.

In 2004, he opened the Kim Hyung-Tak Archery School, and over 2000 archers from 40 countries have since trained at this training centre, many gaining success at Olympics and World Championships.

At present, many archers and teams are training at Coach Kim’s training centre. He participated in the 2015 Summer Universiade as a compound coach of the Korean national team, and nurtured 3 gold medals at individual, team and

Robert Singh entering the loading stage during one of many practice sessions at the Carifesta Sports Complex ground

mixed team events. He popularised new compound techniques to Korea which have helped propel Korea to be top of the world rapidly.

Coach Kim utilises the dart fish video programme to analyse the technique of archers accurately, so that they can gain better results in a shorter time frame.

Archery Guyana wishes Mr. Robert Singh success at this seminar. This exposure will assist in developing both Robert Singh and the sport of

archery in Guyana. This also forms part of his preparations for the Beginners/Developmental Competition being hosted in Santo Domingo in June 2019.

The Board of Directors extend thanks to the Southern Archery Academy Ltd of Trinidad & Tobago for extending this invitation to Guyana.

This seminar will also help to foster relations between our Caribbean archery associations/federations.

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saturday, MAY 18, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

Mosaddek, Sarkar star in Bangladesh's tri-series triumph

M

osaddek Hossain's unbeaten 52 off 24 balls, which included fives sixes and two fours, and a breezy 41-ball 66 by Soumya Sarkar helped Bangladesh to a five-wicket win over West Indies in the rain-marred tri-series final on Friday (May 17). West Indies posted a total of 152 for 1 in a contest reduced to 24 overs, with Bangladesh needing 210 for victory as per DLS revision of the target. The Asian team, riding on the two half-centuries from the opener and the number seven batsman, reached the target with seven deliveries to spare to end the tri-series unbeaten.

Sarkar set the tone for the chase by finding the fence regularly. Having started with a couple of fours off Ashley Nurse in the opening over, the 26-year old left-hander preferred the pace on the ball as he took the attack to Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach, powering Bangladesh past 50 by the time the fifth over was completed. Tamim Iqbal, who was happy to feed Sarkar most of the strike, hit two boundaries off Gabriel but the bowler had the last laugh in the contest and also accounted for Sabbir Rahman in the same over.

The quick wickets didn't deter Sarkar, who found an able partner in Mushfiqur Rahim as they put on a brisk 49-run stand to keep Bangladesh on track in the chase. But West Indies added intrigue to what was appearing to be a one-way traffic through quick wickets as they clawed back into the game. Change of pace did the trick for Raymon Reifer, who got Sarkar to miscue an attempted big hit before trapping Rahim in front. With Fabian Allen getting Mohammad Mithun out with a slider, Bangladesh were in a spot of bother having lost three wickets for the addition of only 24 runs.

Mosaddek then took over the responsibility of finding the boundaries as he prevented the required rate from soaring, while Mahmudullah played a sedate role at the other end. With a six apiece off Jason Holder and Roach, Mosaddek brought the equation down to 27 off the last three overs. Then came the over which pretty much sealed the game in favour of Bangladesh. Mosaddek hit

three sixes and a four off Allen in the 22nd, which yielded 25 runs, and also brought up a 20-ball fifty in the process, before Mahmudullah struck the winning boundary.

Earlier, asked to bat first, West Indies were off to a good start courtesy their openers who were involved in a steady partnership to give their team a solid platform.

Although they had managed only 15 off the first five overs, a 13run over by Saifuddin in the sixth helped the Caribbean side get a move on with their scoring rate.

Boundaries came at regular intervals with Hope and Ambris taking a liking to Mustafizur Rahman.

Ambris scored three fours off the left-arm Soumya seamer in the 12th Sarkar over while Hope struck a four and a six in the 18th over to bring up his fifty and help West Indies past the 100run mark. Mustafizur had conceded 36 runs off three overs while Hope hit his second six, off Mehidy Hasan, when the players went off the field due to rain, with West Indies looking well placed for a good total having moved to 131 for 0.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies Innings (24 overs maximum) SD Hope †c Hossain b Miraz 74 SW Ambris not out 69 DM Bravo not out 3 Extras (lb 2, nb 1, w 3) 6 TOTAL (24 Overs, RR: 6.33) 152-1 Did not bat: RL Chase, JL Carter, JO Holder (c), FA Allen, AR Nurse, RA Reifer, KAJ Roach, ST Gabriel Fall of wickets: 1-144 (SD Hope, 22.4 ov) BOWLING M Mortaza (6-0-28-0) M Saifuddin (5-0-29-0) M Rahman (5-0-50-0) M Hossain (2-0-9-0) M Miraz (4-0-22-1) S Rahman (2-0-12-0) Bangladesh Innings (target: 210 runs from 24 overs) T Iqbal c Holder b Gabriel 18 S Sarkar c sub (SS Cottrell) b

Reifer 66 Sabbir Rahman lbw b Gabriel 0 M Rahim †lbw b Reifer 36 M Mithun lbw b Allen 17 Mahmudullah not out 19 M Hossain not out 52 Extras (w 5) 5 TOTAL (22.5 Overs, RR: 9.32) 213-5 Yet to bat: Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman Fall of wickets: 1-59 (Tamim Iqbal, 5.3 ov), 2-60 (Sabbir Rahman, 5.6 ov), 3-109 (Soumya Sarkar, 11.3 ov), 4-134 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 13.6 ov), 5-143 (Mohammad Mithun, 15.4 ov) BOWLING AR Nurse (3-0-35-0) JO Holder (4-0-31-0) KAJ Roach (5-0-57-0) ST Gabriel (3-0-30-2) RA Reifer (3.5-0-23-2) FA Allen (4-0-37-1)

Following a lengthy delay, which led to overs being reduced, West Indies were only left with 3.5 overs in their innings when they returned to bat. It wasn't a flourishing end to their innings as they managed to add only 21 runs to the total, finishing with 152 for 1, with Hope getting out to Mehidy during this period. Although the revised target was a challenging one as Bangladesh needed to score at 8.75 an over to win the contest; it wasn't sufficient in the end as West Indies' wait for an ODI series win since August 2014 continued. (cricbuzz)

Bartica/KFC U-20 semi-finalists decided O mar Persaud and Mark Hoyte each scored one goal to ensure that Lazio FC triumph over Agatash United FC by 2 goals to nil. This has decided the final team to advance into the semi-finals of the Bartica leg of the GFF-KFC Under-20 Knockout Tournament.

Both Lazio goals came in the first half of a scruffy encounter on a rain-soaked pitch. While chances were created at both ends, it was Coach Sherwin DaSilva's boys who finished early to go ahead in the match. But in the depth of the game, Aston Simmons came up big with a late goal for Agatash United to inspire a fight-back before time was called.

In Friday's semi-final match, Rising Stars FC will do

battle against Potaro Strikers FC; while, on Saturday, the second semi-final will see Rivers View FC coming up against Lazio FC. The winner of the competition would earn the right to represent Bartica in the National Playoffs of the GFFKFC Under-20 Tournament in Georgetown. Those playoff matches are scheduled to be staged between May 31 and June 9, 2019.

The Bartica leg of the tournament was played among eight clubs; namely Beacon, Rising Stars, Lazio, Wolves United, Potaro Strikers, Rivers View, Mil Ballers and Agatash FC. The winner of each leg will participate in the national playoffs in Georgetown.

The BFA matches would be played from April 27 to May 20, while the National playoffs are from May 31 to June 9. Eligible players must be born on or after January 1, 1999.

At the association level, should scores remain level at the end of 90 minutes, the match goes straight to penalty kicks; while, for the national playoffs, extra time will be given.

Prizes for the tournament are as follows: first place $500,000; second place $300,000; and third place $200,000.

The tournament is the Bartica leg of a national collaboration between the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the franchise holders of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Mark Persaud and Omar Hoyte netted for Lazio

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saturday, MAY 18, 2019

23

Hand-in-Hand One-Day U-19 Inter-county Tournament…

Berbice remains unbeaten with Select U-17 victory

By Brandon Corlette

T

he lads from Berbice moved one step further in their quest to retain their U-19 InterCounty One-Day title.

Berbice

defeated t h e Select U - 1 7 Team by 56 runs in their third round clash at the Everest Cricket Club in the One-Day Handin-Hand U-19 tournament on Friday last.

Guyana Select U-17 Team won the toss and elected to bowl first. Berbice managed 250-9 in their 50 overs. In reply, Select U-17 Team were restricted to 194-8 when their 50 overs expired.

Berbice achieved their total riding on brilliant batting efforts from their openers Alex Algoo and Junior Sinclair, who scored half-centuries starring in a

century-run stand. The Berbician duo displayed their experience at this level by getting the upper hand over the Select U-17 bowlers as they added 139 runs to the tally.

Sinclair was the first to be dismissed, for a wellconstructed 70 from 91 balls. His innings included three sixes and four boundaries, after he w a s

Kelvin Umroa picked up 5-31 for Berbice in his top-spell (Brandon Corlette photos)

adjudged leg before to offspinner Sarwan Chaitnarine.

An out-of-form Kevlon Anderson came to the crease and went for six, sweeping in the air and finding the fielder at backward square off leg-spinner Niran Bissu. Algoo, who looked set for a century, fell 27 runs short when his innings ended on 73 from 84 balls. He was out caught at deep mid-wicket, but his innings was decorated with four sixes and five fours.

Deonauth Persaud fell with the score at 207-4, with nine overs remaining in the innings.

He had made a promising 24, which included two boundaries.

An underrated Garfield Benjamin, who has looked positive throughout the intercounty tournament, continued to stitch his scores together with a fluent 32 from 47 balls, including two fours and one six.

His innings concluded when he missed a low delivery and was bowled by Chaitnarine.

The big-hitting Glasgow scored a run-a-ball 21 before he became another Chaitnarine victim, and the Berbice innings closed with a respectable total of 250-9, with Chaitnarine finishing with 5-36 in nine brilliant overs of off-spin bowling. Left-arm spinner Chanderpaul Ramraj had 3-45, while Niran Bissu had one wicket.

In response, the Select U-17 Team had a cautious start, with

openers Matthew Nandu and Ajay Gainda adding 36 runs to the tally before Gainda’s painstaking innings ended when he became Chris Harry’s only wicket. He had scored a mere five runs from 29 balls.

Arguably the best pair in the team, Nandu (43) was joined

by Mavindra Dindyal, and the dynamic duo added 49 runs to the tally before Dindyal’s innings of 33 ended when he played a poor stroke and was caught at deep square-leg off the bowling of Kelvin Umroa.

The Select U-17 Team had at one stage lost five wickets for 14 runs before being rescued by an 84-run partnership between Andre Seepersaud and Sarwan Chairnarine. Seepersaud looked calm and composed, but was out bowled by Umroa for 39 from 60 balls.

Player of the match, Chaitnarine, ended with an unbeaten 50 which included six elegant boundaries, but his team fell short of victory by 56 runs.

The West Indies U-19 selectee Umroa ended his mini-drought in the one-day tournament by snaring 5-31 in 10 overs, including three maidens.

The final match will see Berbice and Demerara clashing for title honours at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground at Bourda on Sunday, May 19, 2019. First ball will be bowled from 9:30h local time.

Alex Algoo smashed his way to an aggressive half-century

Hinds, Bookie, Mootoo lead Demerara to finals

Adrian Hinds scored 73 and was adjudged Player-of-the-Match

By T imothy Jaikarran

T

he Hand-in-Hand One Day Under 19 tournament continued at the Georgetown Cricket Club as Essequibo Under-19 battled with Demerara Under-19.

Going into the matchup winning the toss was vital as the team batting first stood a better chance of winning as recorded in previous encounters in the tournament.

Captain of Demerara Ashmead Nedd won the toss and elected to bat first as the Demerara side intended to post a challenging total for the weak Essequibo side. In Essequibo’s last encounter on Wednesday against Guyana Select Under-17, they lost by 39 runs as they resorted to aerial shots thus handing Select u17 the game.

Essequibo needed to change their strategy heading into the matchup against the inform Demerara side. Opening the innings for Demerara were Adrian Hinds and Robin Williams, the pair put together a 29 run partnership before William’s fell victim to Mahesh Ramnarine for 10 to take the score to

Alphius Bookie played an unbeaten 67 at the back end of the innings to frustrate the Essequibo side

29-1. Yeudister Persaud then joined Hinds at the crease but failed to stick around as he was bowled by Lance Robert’s for 9 to leave Hinds searching for a partner. But Hinds found his partner in the form of Alphius Bookie the two put together a 78 run partnership blasting balls to every part of the ground to take the score from 57-2 to 135-3 as Hinds fell for a wellplayed 73. Bookie received no support from Zachary Jodah as he departed for 1, however, he was supported by Nedd who blasted a quickfire 34 off 24 balls before being caught off the bowling of Elain Whyte. In the end Bookie remained unbeaten on 67 as Demerara were able to post a commanding 223-5.

Top scoring for Demerara were Hinds, 73, Bookie, 67 not out and Nedd, 34. Bowling for Essequibo were Elain Whyte, 2-56, Amit Persaud, 1-43, Mahesh Ramnarine, 1-29 and Lance Robert, 1-34.

Chasing a total of 224 for victory off 300 balls Essequibo found themselves in trouble from the first two balls as they struggled at 1-2 losing Orlando Jailall and Jeremiah Scott for duck. From there Kevin Christian and Ameer Singh needed

to carry on if they did not want a repeat of Wednesday’s encounter. But once again Essequibo’s batting failed as Christian was removed for 18 by Joel Spooner despite a 49 run partnership.

In came Lance Roberts who refused to go down without a fight, wickets fell around him as Daniel Mootoo removed the next four batsmen for a total of nine runs to leave Essequibo wobbling on 78-8. But Roberts continued to be the thorn in the side of the Demerara team as he dug deep and brought up his half century in 54 balls to take his side to 111-9. With 17 overs remaining and 112 runs Roberts needed to take majority of the strike to give his side a consolation win, as Demerara were already booked to make their appearance in the finals against Berbice. But the pressure was too much for tail ender Adrian Ramkripaul as he fell to off spinner Nedd to leave Roberts stranded on 53, the lone top scorer for Essequibo. Bowling for Demerara were Daniel Mootoo 4-18, Joel Spooner 2-27, Qumar Torrington 1-16, Pradesh Balkishun 1-15 and Nedd 1-7.

saturday, MAY 18, 2019

Sports is no longer our game, it’s our business

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Hand-in-Hand One-Day U-19 Inter-county Tournament…

Page 23

Berbice remains unbeaten with Select U-17 victory Hinds, Bookie, Mootoo lead Demerara to finals Page 23

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